ALKBH5 and breast cancer: It was also reported that hypoxia-stimulated HIF1α and HIF2α promote the expression of ALKBH5 in hypoxic breast cancer cells, and elevated expression of ALKBH5 promotes mRNA stability and expression of NANOG, a gene encoding a pluripotency factor, by catalyzing m6A demethylation.73 Ectopic expression of ALKBH5, under nonhypoxic conditions, significantly enhances NANOG expression and promotes enrichment of breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs), phenocopying the effects of hypoxia.