Histone lactylation drives liver cancer metastasis by facilitating NSF1 mediated ferroptosis resistance after microwave ablation

Insufficient microwave ablation (IMWA) is linked to aggressive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. An increase in lactate level after sublethal heat stress (HS) has been confirmed in HCC. However, the role of lactate-related histone lactylation in the progression of HCC underwent sublethal HS remains unclear. Here, we found that the metastatic potential of HCC is enhanced in a lactate-dependent manner after IMWA. Meanwhile, sublethal HS triggers an upregulation of H3K18la modification, as validated in a cell-derived xenograft mouse model and human HCC samples. By employing an integration analysis of proteomic and transcriptomic profiling, we revealed that HCC cells exhibit an upregulation of intracellular iron ion homeostasis and develop resistance to platinum-based drugs after exposure to sublethal HS. We subsequently integrated proteomic and transcriptomic data with H3K18la-specific chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) sequencing to identify candidate genes involved in sublethal heat treatment-induced HCC cell metastasis. Mechanically, the upregulation of H3K18la modification enhances the transcriptional activity of NFS1, a key player in iron-sulfur clusters biosynthesis, thereby reducing the susceptibility of HCC to ferroptosis post IMWA. Knocking down NFS1 diminished the metastatic potential of sublethal heat-treated HCC cell. Additionally, the deficiency of NFS1 exhibited a synergistic effect with oxaliplatin, leading to a significant inhibition of the metastatic capability of HCC cells both in vitro and in vivo, regardless of HS treatment. In conclusion, our study reveals the oncogenic role of Histone lactylation in HCC after IMVA, we also bridge histone lactylation with ferroptosis, which provides novel therapeutic targets for HCC following microwave ablation, particularly when combined with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy.