In contrast to the studies cited above, Saito et al. [179] have demonstrated that, under conditions of severe metabolic stress (a combination of dietary restriction and the hypoxic environment of the bone marrow), AMPK deletion significantly reduced the population of leukaemia-initiating cells in the bone marrow, but not in the relatively more benign environment of the spleen [179]. Here, PRKAB1 is linked to leukemia.