Western blot analysis in kidney cortex samples with antibodies that probe both α1 and α2 AMPK forms (559 and 552 amino acids length, respectively) detect four major immunoreactive bands (Figure 1D). Earlier, it was shown in rat liver tissue that the AMPKα signal might migrate as doublets. The authors also demonstrated that inactivation of AMPKα resulted in a shift in the migration of the upper band of the doublet to that of the lower band indicating that the two bands represent different phosphorylation states of the same enzyme and that activation is accompanied by a shift to higher bands (Carling et al., 1994). Our further investigations revealed similar forms of AMPKα which degrade in the renal tissues of AMPKβ1 knockout mice (Christensen et al., 2016). In the current study, high-salt diet causes increased activation of AMPK pathway in the renal cortex. 8% NaCl diet significantly increased both total AMPKα subunit abundance and phosphorylation of the Thr172 residue in the “activation loop” of AMPKα subunit (Stein et al., 2000). Phosphorylation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), an immediate downstream effector and canonical target of AMPK, was also increased suggesting that high salt intake or high BP increases cortical AMPK activity (Figures 1D,E).