To confirm whether LASS2 plays important role in the stem-like phenotype of bladder cancer, we sorted CD44+ALDH1A1+ subpopulation from the 5637 cell line (Fig. 2A), which has a predominant enrichment of the basal-like signature [26] (Additional file 2: Fig. S3A), displays a more stem-like phenotype [33], has a higher expression level of CD44 (Additional file 2: Fig. S3B), as well as contains a larger CD44+ALDH1A1+ subpopulation (Additional file 2: Fig. S3F). The gene discussed is CD44; the disease is urinary bladder cancer.