The “Biological Acetylation in Health and Disease” scientific conference, organized by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), was held August 3–6 in Porto, Portugal. Yingming Zhao, Scientific Advisor to PTM BIO and Louis Block Professor in the Ben May Department of Cancer Research at the University of Chicago, was invited to attend the conference and deliver a plenary presentation entitled “Regulatory Mechanisms of Lysine L-Lactylation Pathways.”
As a premier scientific forum at the intersection of epigenetics and metabolism, the conference brought together leading researchers from around the world, including Shelley Berger, Professor and Director of the Epigenetics Institute at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the U.S. National Academies, as well as Asifa Akhtar, Director of the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics and recipient of Germany’s prestigious Leibniz Prize. As one of the invited speakers, Professor Zhao shared the stage with these leading scientists and presented his team’s latest advances in deciphering the regulatory mechanisms of lysine L-lactylation.
In 2019, Professor Zhao’s team published a landmark study in Nature that challenged the conventional view of lactate as merely a metabolic byproduct and revealed, for the first time, that lactate can directly regulate gene transcription through L-lactylation. In subsequent studies, his team further elucidated how L-lactylation regulates gene expression through the precise molecular pathway of lysine L-lactylation. These discoveries have not only deepened our understanding of the molecular interplay between metabolites and epigenetic regulation, but have also revealed critical regulatory roles for lactate in tumor development and immune responses, providing a new conceptual foundation for the development of therapeutics targeting lactylation.
Notably, several key datasets presented by Professor Zhao were generated using novel PTM pan-antibodies and site-specific antibodies independently developed by PTM BIO. These highly specific antibody tools enable precise detection and quantitative analysis of lactylation sites, providing critical support across the entire research workflow — from the discovery of novel post-translational modifications to mechanistic validation. This work further highlights the value of PTM BIO’s integrated business model combining high-throughput proteomic analysis with the development of highly specific antibodies, and its role in advancing both fundamental scientific discoveries and translational research.
As a pioneer in metabolite-driven post-translational modifications, Professor Zhao’s team has discovered 13 novel types of post-translational modifications over the past two decades, including crotonylation, succinylation, and lactylation, and has systematically identified more than 1,100 histone modification sites. These groundbreaking discoveries have provided new perspectives for understanding critical biological processes such as tumorigenesis and immune regulation, while also opening promising new avenues for the diagnosis and treatment of metabolic diseases and cancer.
ABOUT PTM BIO
Hangzhou PTM BIO Technology Co., Ltd. is an innovative high-tech company integrating research and development, manufacturing, and technology services, with a commitment to advancing the life sciences through technological innovation.
With biological mass spectrometry as a core technology and antibody reagents as a key component of its platform, PTM BIO integrates expertise across biochemistry, pathology, cell biology, bioinformatics, and other interdisciplinary fields. The company has established an integrated business model combining high-throughput proteomic analysis with highly specific antibody development.
PTM BIO is a pioneer in providing comprehensive proteomics solutions spanning protein discovery, validation, and detection, supporting researchers across fundamental research and translational applications.
