Accordingly, IFN-I exposure induced significant upregulation of Klf4, Oct3/4, Sox2, Nanog, hes family bHLH transcription factor 1 (Hes1) and Nes (Fig. 1d and Extended Data Fig. 1e), and endowed MCA205 and AT3 cancer cells with increased sphere-forming ability (Fig. 1e). This evidence concerns the gene SOX2 and cancer.