NANOG and hepatocellular carcinoma: Next, the expression levels of stem cell markers—CD133, CD44, Nanog, Sox2, and Oct4—in HCC stem cells were measured by RT-qPCR and western blot analyses and were found to be significantly lower in the oe-HOXA11 group than in the oe-NC group (p < 0.05) (Fig. 4b, c).