Importantly, to demonstrate the critical role of SNAIL in driving the Mes/CSC phenotype, we expressed exogenous SNAIL in Ep/non-CSC and confirmed that it induced Mes/CSC properties, as demonstrated by repressed E-cadherin expression, increased CD44 expression, and facilitated tumor sphere formation (Additional file 1: Figure S5A-C). This evidence concerns the gene CD44 and neoplasm.