ALDH1A1 and gastric cancer: Collectively, NME2 was critical for the maintenance of stemness of gastric cancer stem-like cells via promoting the expression of stemness-associated transcriptional factors (c-Myc, LGR5, ALDH1, and Nanog) and anti-apoptosis genes (RIPK1, STARD5, and LIMS1) (Fig. 6c).