CHUK and non-small cell lung carcinoma: In our experiments, enhanced HIF-1α protein expression and activity in the absence of IKKα was most apparent in the murine urethane-induced NSCLC in vivo model and in human H1437 IKKαKD NSCLC cells grown as tumor xenografts or maintained in vitro either as tumor spheres or monolayer cells under hypoxic conditions.