Cx26-silenced MDA-MB-231 and HCC70 CSCs exhibited significantly lower tumor initiation frequency compared to control NT CSCs (in MDA-MB-231 CSCs, frequency was reduced from 1 in 10,000 in non-target conditions to 1 in 290,000, 1 in 225,000, and 1 in 130,000 in the three Cx26 shRNA conditions; in HCC70 CSCs, frequency was reduced from 1 in 10,000 in non-target conditions to 1 in 130,000 and 1 in 148,000 in the two Cx26 shRNA conditions; Fig. 2b and Supplementary Fig. 1e). Here, GJB2 is linked to neoplasm.