Treatment of hepatoma cells with sodium acetate promotes the phosphorylation of AMP-kinase through CaMKK. Phosphorylated AMP-kinase (a), CaMKK (b), and LKB1 (c) were measured by immunoquantitation in hepatoma cells three hours after treatment with sodium acetate (0.12 mM), AICAR (1 mM), metformin (1 mM), policosanol (15 μg/ml) or ionomycin (1 μg/ml). Values represent the mean and standard deviation of 2–3 experiments; values that are statistically different from the control are indicated with asterisks, as determined by one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s post-hoc test, p < 0.05