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. 2025 Aug 26;13:110. doi: 10.1186/s40364-025-00824-9

Table 2.

RNA modification regulates lactate or lactylation

Classification Regulator (Type) Modification Target (Site) Mechanism Outcome Refs.
Glycolytic Enzymes
HK METTL3 (Writer), IGF2BP2/3 (Reader) m6A HK2 and GLUT1(5’/3’UTR) Enhancing HK2 and GLUT1 mRNAs stability Enhancing glycolysis, lactate production and tumor progression [86, 9193]
METTL3 (Writer), YTHDF1 (Reader) m6A HK2 (3’UTR) Increasing HK2 mRNA stability Promoting glycolysis, lactate production and CC cell proliferation [78]
KIAA1429 (Writer), HuR (Reader) m6A HK1 (CDS) Jointly improving HK1 mRNA stability Enhancing glycolysis and increasing sorafenib resistance in HCC [94]
RBM15 (Writer) m6A HK2 (3’ UTR) Enhancing HK2, GPI, and PGK1 mRNAs stability Promoting glycolysis and osteosarcoma progression [95]
IGF2BP2 (Reader), FTO and ALKBH5 (Eraser) m6A HK2 Increasing HK2 mRNA stability Enhancing glycolysis and promoting tumor progression [86, 96, 97]
PFK-1 YTHDC1 (Reader) m6A PFKM (CDS) Enhancing the stability and translation of PFKM and LDHA mRNAs Enhancing glycolysis, lactate production and promoting OS progression [98]
YTHDF2 (Reader), FTO (Eraser) m6A PFKP and LDHB Enhancing PFKP and LDHB mRNAs stability Enhancing glycolysis and promoting leukemia progression [99]
Aldolase YTHDF2 (Reader), FTO (Eraser) m6A ALDOA (CDS) Enhancing ALDOA mRNA stability Enhancing glycolysis and promoting HCC growth under hypoxia [79]
IGF2BP2 (Reader) m6A ALDOA Enhancing ALDOA mRNA stability and translation Enhancing glycolysis and histone lactylation, and promoting liver fibrosis [89]
Enolase METTL3 (Writer), YTHDF1 (Reader), ALKBH5 (Eraser) m6A ENO1 (ORF 359 A) Enhancing ENO1 mRNA translation Promoting glycolysis, lactate production and LUAD tumorigenesis [100]
KIAA1429 (Writer) m6A ENO1 (CDS 2273–2278) Enhancing ENO1 mRNA stability Promoting aerobic glycolysis and OC progression [101]
WTAP (Writer) m6A ENO1 (3’UTR) Promoting ENO1 mRNA stability Promoting breast cancer glycolysis [102]
METTL3 (Writer) m6A LINC00520 (183nt, 710nt) Indirectly promoting ENO1 stability Enhancing glycolysis, lactate production and inducing cisplatin resistance in OS [103]
PK HNRNPC (Reader) m6A PKM (motif GGACU near exon 9) Regulating PKM alternative splicing and promoting PKM2 expression Promoting glycolysis, lactate production and progression in PTC [104]
ALYREF (Reader) m5C PKM2 (3’UTR) Enhancing PKM2 mRNA stability Promoting glycolysis, lactate production and bladder cancer cell proliferation [80]
METTL1 (Writer) m7G PKM Increasing PKM mRNA stability Enhancing glycolysis and promoting immune evasion in CRC [77]
METTL14 (Writer), IGF2BP (Reader), ALKBH5 (Eraser) m6A JMJD8 (3’UTR) Enhancing the enzymatic activity of PKM2 Enhancing glycolysis, lactate production and promoting CRC progression [105]
PDK4 IGF2BP3 (Reader), YTHDF1 (Reader) m6A PDK4 (5’UTR) Enhancing PDK4 mRNA stability and translation Enhancing glycolysis, lactate production [106]
METTL16 (Writer), IGF2BP1 (Reader) m6A SOGA1 Indirectly upregulating PDK4 expression Promoting glycolysis and CRC progression [107]
LDH IGF2BP3 (Reader) m6A LDHA (3’UTR) Enhancing LDHA mRNA stability Boosting lactate production and GC immune evasion [108]
LRPPRC (Reader) m6A LDHA (3’UTR) Enhancing LDHA mRNA stability Enhancing glycolysis and TNBC progression [82]
METTL3 (Writer), YTHDF1 (Reader) m6A LDHA (CDS) Promoting LDHA mRNA translation Promoting glycolysis, tumor progression and 5-FU resistance [81, 109, 110]
NAT10 (Writer) ac4C JunB Indirectly upregulating LDHA expression Enhancing glycolysis and promoting TNBC progression and immunosuppression [111]
YTHDF2 (Reader) m6A Inc-Dpf3 (3812–3815 nt and 3852–3855 nt) Indirectly upregulating LDHA expression Promoting dendritic cell glycolysis metabolism and migration [84]
YTHDF3 (Reader) m6A lncRNA DICER1-AS1 (exon region) Indirectly promoting LDHA, HK2 expression Promoting glycolysis, lactate production and pancreatic cancer progression [83]
Transporters
GLUT1 METTL3 (Writer) m6A GLUT1 (CDS/3 ‘UTR) Enhancing GLUT1 mRNA translation Enhancing glycolysis, lactate production and promoting tumor progression [112, 113]
METTL3 (Writer) m6A GLUT1 Enhancing GLUT1 mRNA stability Promoting lactate production, progression and resistance to mTOR inhibitors in ccRCC [114]
WTAP (Writer), IGF2BP2 (Reader) m6A PIGT (3 ‘UTR) Promoting GLUT1 glycosylation and membrane trafficking Promoting glycolysis, proliferation and metastasis of bladder cancer cells [115]
YTHDF2 (Reader), FTO (Eraser) m6A GLUT1 and PKM2 Enhancing GLUT1, PKM2 and c-Myc mRNAs stability Promoting glycolysis and progression in HCC [87]
MCT ALKBH5 (Eraser) m6A MCT4 Enhancing the MCT4 mRNA stability Promoting lactate production and the infiltration of Tregs and MDSCs in the TME [88]