By using a novel mouse model of human T-ALL pathogenesis [276], this work showed that CD44 is a direct transcriptional target of NOTCH1, which is upregulated in NOTCH1-induced preleukemic blasts, facilitating their engraftment into the bone marrow niche, and supporting the LIC potential of T-ALL [276]. Here, NOTCH1 is linked to acute lymphoblastic leukemia.