Endoplasmic Reticulum Chaperone GRP78 Regulates Macrophage Function and Insulin Resistance in Diet-Induced Obesity

Obesity-mediated inflammation is a major cause of insulin resistance, and macrophages play an important role in this process. The 78-kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78) is a major endoplasmic reticulum chaperone that modulates unfolded protein response (UPR), and mice with GRP78 heterozygosity were resistant to diet-induced obesity. Here, we show that mice with macrophage-selective ablation of GRP78 (Lyz-GRP78(-/-)) are protected from skeletal muscle insulin resistance without changes in obesity compared with wild-type mice after 9 wk of high-fat diet. GRP78-deficient macrophages demonstrated adapted UPR with up-regulation of activating transcription factor (ATF)-4 and M2-polarization markers. Diet-induced adipose tissue inflammation was reduced, and bone marrow-derived macrophages from Lyz-GRP78(-/-) mice demonstrated a selective increase in IL-6 expression. Serum IL-13 levels were elevated by >4-fold in Lyz-GRP78(-/-) mice, and IL-6 stimulated the myocyte expression of IL-13 and IL-13 receptor. Lastly, recombinant IL-13 acutely increased glucose metabolism in Lyz-GRP78(-/-) mice. Taken together, our data indicate that GRP78 deficiency activates UPR by increasing ATF-4, and promotes M2-polarization of macrophages with a selective increase in IL-6 secretion. Macrophage-derived IL-6 stimulates the myocyte expression of IL-13 and regulates muscle glucose metabolism in a paracrine manner. Thus, our findings identify a novel crosstalk between macrophages and skeletal muscle in the modulation of obesity-mediated insulin resistance.