Background: Liver kinase B1 (LKB1) is involved in various human diseases. Aberrant expression of LKB1 expression is involved in glioma progression and associated with prognosis, however, the specific mechanism involving NF-κB/Snail signaling pathways remain unknown. 
Materials and methods: In the present study, quantitative real-time PCR analysis was used to investigate the expression of LKB1 tumor tissue samples and cell lines. In glioma cell lines, CCK-8 assay, transwell invasion and migration assays were used to investigate the effects of LKB1on proliferation and invasion.
Results: We observed that LKB1 knockdown promoted glioma cell proliferation, migration and invasion. This effect was induced through NF-κB/Snail signaling activation. Also, LKB1 overexpression suppressed proliferation, migration, and invasion, which could be rescued by Snail overexpression. 
Conclusion: Taken together, our results show that LKB1 knockdown promotes remarkably glioma cell proliferation, migration and invasion by regulating Snail protein expression through activating the NF-κB signaling. This may serve as a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target for glioma.
Keywords: glioma, proliferation, migration, invasion, LKB1, NF-κB, snail