We had previously shown that the preclinical peptide, AD-01, significantly decreased the mRNA expression of pluripotency markers OCT4, NANOG and SOX2 in breast cancer xenografts, consistent with the differentiation of the CSCs.23 Likewise, Sox2 mRNA levels were significantly reduced in OVCAR3 monolayer cells after 24-h in vitro treatment with ALM201 (1 and 100 nmol/l) (Fig. 3e). The gene discussed is POU5F1; the disease is breast cancer.