Here we reported that the inhibition of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) in leukemia stem cells (LSCs) induced the expression of NKG2D ligands through the activation of DNA damage response.<h4>Methods</h4>Flow cytometry and Quantitative real-time RT-PCR were used to detect the expression levels of NKG2D ligands on cell surface and mRNA levels in leukemia cells, respectively. The gene discussed is PARP1; the disease is leukemia.