Advances and Deep Insights Into Lactylation: Essential Roles in Cellular Regulation and Disease Association

Proteins exert biological functions not only depending on abundance but also on regulation. Lactylation is an important novel post-translational modification (PTM) that can affect protein structure and function, playing a crucial role in signal transduction, gene expression and cellular metabolism. Lactylation participates in the progression of various diseases, such as tumours, heart failure, myocardial infarction, renal fibrosis and Alzheimer's disease. These studies suggest that lactylation may mediate metabolic reprogramming and enhance cellular plasticity, providing new entry points for developing therapeutic approaches. This review introduces the progress on various aspects of lactylation, including mechanisms, regulations and disease associations, aiming to provide valuable insights and inspiration for further exploration of protein modification networks.