Fig. 1
From: Post-translational protein lactylation modification in health and diseases: a double-edged sword
Regulation of lactate metabolism progress in normal, glycolytic and oxidative cells. Glucose metabolism mainly contains glycolysis and the TCA cycle in the mitochondrion. With sufficient oxygen, normal cells produce energy mainly through the TCA cycle. Under stimulation with hypoxia, tumors, and inflammation, glycolytic cells trigger a large uptake of glucose and participate in glycolysis in the cytoplasm, where pyruvate is turned into lactate by LDHA, which then is excreted to the extracellular matrix by MCT4. Of note, lactate uptake by oxidative cells via MCT1 leads to the conversion of it back to pyruvate in the cytoplasm via LDHB, which is then transported to the mitochondria via MCT1 to complete the TAC and contributes to energy metabolism