CD44 and breast carcinoma: Because EMT is known to induce the generation of breast cancer cells with stem cell–like characteristics (6), we next determined whether MELK is capable of inducing a CSC phenotype in TNBC by examining the effects of MELK knockdown or overexpression on mammosphere formation (37) and CSC phenotype (CD44+/CD24− and ALDH1+ subpopulations) using flow cytometry.