NANOG and cancer: Furthermore, qRT-PCR showed significantly reduced mRNA transcription of a panel of stemness-associated genes (NANOG, OCT-4, BMI-1, NOTCH-1, ALDH1, and SMO), cancer stem cells-associated surface antigens (CD24, CD44, CD105, and CD133) and multiple drug-resistant transporter genes (ABCC2 and ABCG2) in EIF4A2 knocked-down cells (Fig. 2f).