BMI1 and colorectal carcinoma: ZEB2 expression in PKH26+ tumor cells was accompanied by an increased expression of CRC self-renewal factors BMI1 and NANOG [35, 36], of EMT-related genes ZEB1, VIMENTIN, SNAI1 and SNAI2, of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1B (CDKN1B, encoding for p27Kip1) and by lower levels of MKI67 and CADHERIN-1 (Fig. 1l), indicating that the QCSCs population in colorectal tumors is characterized by stemness and EMT features.