Lactylation Modification as a Promoter of Bladder Cancer: Insights from Multi-Omics Analysis

Abstract

Bladder cancer (BLAC) is a malignant tumor with high morbidity and mortality. The establishment of a prognostic model for BLAC is of great significance for clinical prognosis prediction and treatment guidance. Lactylation modification is a newly discovered post-transcriptional modification of proteins, which is closely related to the occurrence and development of tumors. Multiple omics data of BLAC were obtained from the GEO database and TCGA database. The Lasso algorithm was used to establish a prognostic model related to lactylation modification, and its predictive ability was tested with a validation cohort. Functional enrichment analysis, tumor microenvironment analysis, and treatment response evaluation were performed on the high- and low-risk groups. Single-cell and spatial transcriptome data were used to analyze the distribution characteristics of model genes and their changes during epithelial carcinogenesis. A prognostic model consisting of 12 genes was constructed. The survival rate of the high-risk group was significantly lower than that of the low-risk group. The multiple ROC curve showed that the prediction efficiency of the model was higher than that of the traditional clinical tumor grading. Functional enrichment analysis showed that glycolysis and hypoxia pathways were significantly upregulated in the high-risk group. The high-risk group was more sensitive to most first-line chemotherapy drugs, while the low-risk group had a better response to immunotherapy. Single-cell sequencing analysis revealed the dynamic changes of model genes during the transition of epithelial cells to squamous-differentiated cells. Spatial transcriptome analysis showed the spatial distribution characteristics of the model genes. The lactylation-related models have a satisfactory predictive ability and the potential to guide the clinical treatment of BLAC. This model has significant biological implications at the single-cell level as well as at the spatial level.