Glycolysis maintains AMPK activation in sorafenib-induced Warburg effect

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second deadly cancer in the world and still lacks curative treatment. Aerobic glycolysis, or Warburg effect, is a major resistance mechanism induced by first-line treatment of HCC, sorafenib, and is regulated by the master regulator of metabolism, AMPK. Activation of AMPK is required for resistance; however, activation dynamics of AMPK and its regulation is rarely studied. Engineering cells to express an AMPK activity biosensor, we monitor AMPK activation in single HCC cells in a high throughput manner during sorafenib-induced drug resistance. Sorafenib induces transient activation of AMPK, duration of which is dependent on glucose. Inhibiting glycolysis shortens AMPK activation; whereas increasing glycolysis increases its activation duration. Our data highlight that activation duration of AMPK is important for cancer evasion of therapeutic treatment and glycolysis is a key regulator of activation duration of AMPK.