Treatment with the unfolded protein response (UPR) inducer thapsigargin resulted in significant repression of stem cell markers including DCLK1, CD133, BMI1, and CD44v9, and led to a significant increase of the epithelial differentiation marker, CDX2 in HCT116 cells (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.001, Figure 3C,D), indicating that ER stress response suppresses cancer stemness. This evidence concerns the gene BMI1 and cancer.