Abstract Background Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are regarded as the "seed cells" for tumorigenesis, metastasis, recurrence and drug resistance. However, specific surface markers of CSCs of different origins have not been documented. Methods Single-cell sequencing was used to analyze the highly expressed genes in cancer stem cells of gastric cancer patients, and it was verified that AQP5 was specifically highly expressed in gastric cancer stem cells (GC-CSCs) in vivo and in vitro. The effect of...