CD44 and malignant colon neoplasm: Correspondingly, the expression levels of stem cell-associated genes, including OCT4, Lin28, Lgr5, KLF, Bmi-1, CD44 and SOX2, increased sharply in colon cancer cells upon treatment with exosomes from BM-MSCs or exosomal miR-142-3p (Figs. 3d,  4e).