NKILA and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: We detected IκBα and p65 phosphorylation levels in NKILA-overexpressing and silenced ESCC cells and found that TNF-α-induced IκBα and p65 phosphorylation was inhibited by ectopic NKILA expression in KYSE30 and KYSE180 cells but was enhanced by NKLIA silencing in both cell lines (Fig. 5a, b).