Interestingly, a luciferase promoter assay showed that LCN2 effectively attenuated the promoter activity of NF-κB (Additional file 9: Figure S6A,) and NF-ĸB was confirmed here to promote both snail and Vimentin expression and reduce E-cadherin expression in protein level of CRC cells by using Leptomycin B (LMB, the activator of NF-κB) or Bay11-7082 and JSH-23 (the specific inhibitor of NF-κB). This evidence concerns the gene SNAI1 and colorectal carcinoma.