Fig. 2

Global lactylation level was up-regulated in CRC and associated with tumor progression. A Western blotting analysis of lactylation levels in adjacent normal tissues (N) and cancerous tissues (T). B Assessment of lactylation levels in the colon epithelial cell line NCM460 and various CRC cell lines (HCT8, HCT15, HCT116, DLD1, RKO, SW480, SW620, SW1116) through western blotting. Densitometric analysis was conducted to quantify and statistically compare lactylation levels normalized to histone H3. C, D Immunohistochemical staining visualization of lactylation levels in normal and cancerous tissues (C) and the specific lactylation levels in tumor tissues at various stages from stage 1 to stage 4 (D) in a Tissue Microarray (TMA) cohort. A total of 80 normal colon tissues and 80 CRC tumors were analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann–Whitney test. Scale bar: left panel, 200 μm; right panel, 50 μm. E Kaplan–Meier survival analysis assessing the relationship between lactylation level and OS of CRC patients, accompanied by a time-dependent ROC curve demonstrating the accuracy of the lactylation risk. F Kaplan–Meier survival analysis exploring the association between lactylation level and OS of CRC patients in early-stage (stages I–III) and late-stage (stage IV) patients. G, H Univariate and multivariate independent prognostic analysis conducted in the TMA cohort. I, J Distribution of recurrence (I), metastasis (J), and stage (K) in lactylation-high and lactylation-low patients. Statistical significance: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001