REVIEW article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Cellular Biochemistry
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1533175
This article is part of the Research TopicProtein Lactylation in Disease Progression: Biological Function and Therapeutic TargetsView all 5 articles
Protein Lactylation in Kidney Diseases
Provisionally accepted
- 1Naval Special Medical Center, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
- 2Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Huangpu, Shanghai Municipality, China
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Post-translational modifications (PTMs) regulate protein function and structure through covalent modifications, participating in various physiological and pathological processes. Lysine lactylation is an emerging PTM discovered in recent years, which regulates gene expression, metabolism, and cell signaling by adding a lactyl group to lysine residues. As a by-product of glycolysis, lactate not only influences cellular metabolism but also contributes to the development and progression of kidney diseases through lactylation. This review focuses on the discovery and regulatory mechanisms of lysine lactylation, particularly its role in kidney diseases such as acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, and diabetic kidney disease. Lactylation influences the metabolic state, inflammatory response, and fibrosis of renal cells by modulating protein function and key gene transcription. With continued research, lactylation is expected to become a novel target for understanding the metabolicepigenetic regulation of kidney diseases and could offer new strategies for treatment.
Keywords: Lactate, lactylation, post-translational modification, Chronic Kidney Disease, Acute Kidney Injury, Diabetic kidney disease
Received: 23 Nov 2024; Accepted: 30 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yelei, Li, Xue and Mao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Cheng Xue, Naval Special Medical Center, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
Zhiguo Mao, Naval Special Medical Center, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
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