In fact, and in accordance with previous evidence observed in normal liver under energetic stress which suggest p53 stabilization by AMPK phosphorylation24, we demonstrated that AMPK activation through metformin is associated with an increase of p53 in HCC cells, and that cells lack of p53 show no inhibition of migration/invasion by metformin. Here, PRKAA1 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.