YAP delactylation enhances therapy resistance in renal cell carcinoma

Lactylation is a novel lysine acylation modification, and its function and exact mechanisms remain unclear. The responsiveness to combined targeted and immunotherapy continues to be a major challenge in cancer treatment. Here, we discovered that lysine lactylation (Kla) is specifically downregulated in targeted therapy-resistant renal cancer cells and tissues. The lactylation status of YAP at lysine 90 (K90) regulates its nuclear translocation, which is critical for the expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes and the PD-L1 gene. Furthermore, we identified HDAC1 as the “eraser” of YAP-K90 lactylation. By transfecting YAP-K90T (a lactylation mimic), we enhanced antitumor immune activity. In xenograft models established in huCD34 + HSC NCG mice, we consistently found that HDAC1 inhibition enhances the response to combination therapy by increasing YAP lactylation and promoting CD8⁺ T cell tumor infiltration. These findings reveal lactylation as a key mechanism in targeted drug response and identify inhibiting YAP delactylation as a promising strategy for renal cell carcinoma treatment.