Together, these cell line experiments establish that depletion of Insm1 can cause stem-like cells to form, can increase invasiveness, and can cause metastasis; furthermore, these data suggest that the difference between the less metastatic, more differentiated insulinomas of RT2 B6 mice and the NF-PanNETs of RT2 AB6F1 mice may be due to differences in Insm1 expression. The gene discussed is INSM1; the disease is pancreatic insulinoma.