The knockout and overexpression of MAEL resulted in a respective concomitant decreased and increased expression of stemness-associated genes, including CD44, C-Myc, CD133, Oct-4, and Sox-2 in mRNA, and protein levels (Figure 3A,B), suggesting that MAEL may regulate the stemness of HCC. This evidence concerns the gene PROM1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.