SOX2 and neoplasm: Genetically engineered strains of Salmonella VNP20009, which are attenuated facultative anaerobes that can penetrate the tumor because of their ability to grow in hypoxic areas, have been used to carry Sox2 shRNA construct in combination with the anti-tumor polypeptide HM-3 in a mouse xenograft model of NSCLC and enhanced the antitumor effect of HM-3 resulting in the induction of apoptosis by increasing Bax expression, cleaving caspase 3, and decreasing BCL2 [183].