Go to JCI Insight
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Gastroenterology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Neuroscience
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • Vascular biology
    • All ...
  • Videos
    • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
    • Video Abstracts
  • Reviews
    • View all reviews ...
    • Complement Biology and Therapeutics (May 2025)
    • Evolving insights into MASLD and MASH pathogenesis and treatment (Apr 2025)
    • Microbiome in Health and Disease (Feb 2025)
    • Substance Use Disorders (Oct 2024)
    • Clonal Hematopoiesis (Oct 2024)
    • Sex Differences in Medicine (Sep 2024)
    • Vascular Malformations (Apr 2024)
    • View all review series ...
  • Viewpoint
  • Collections
    • In-Press Preview
    • Clinical Research and Public Health
    • Research Letters
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Editorials
    • Commentaries
    • Editor's notes
    • Reviews
    • Viewpoints
    • 100th anniversary
    • Top read articles

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • Reviews
  • Review series
  • Conversations with Giants in Medicine
  • Video Abstracts
  • In-Press Preview
  • Clinical Research and Public Health
  • Research Letters
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Editorials
  • Commentaries
  • Editor's notes
  • Reviews
  • Viewpoints
  • 100th anniversary
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Publication alerts by email
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Obesity induces a phenotypic switch in adipose tissue macrophage polarization
Carey N. Lumeng, … , Jennifer L. Bodzin, Alan R. Saltiel
Carey N. Lumeng, … , Jennifer L. Bodzin, Alan R. Saltiel
Published January 2, 2007
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2007;117(1):175-184. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI29881.
View: Text | PDF
Research Article

Obesity induces a phenotypic switch in adipose tissue macrophage polarization

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

Adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) infiltrate adipose tissue during obesity and contribute to insulin resistance. We hypothesized that macrophages migrating to adipose tissue upon high-fat feeding may differ from those that reside there under normal diet conditions. To this end, we found a novel F4/80+CD11c+ population of ATMs in adipose tissue of obese mice that was not seen in lean mice. ATMs from lean mice expressed many genes characteristic of M2 or “alternatively activated” macrophages, including Ym1, arginase 1, and Il10. Diet-induced obesity decreased expression of these genes in ATMs while increasing expression of genes such as those encoding TNF-α and iNOS that are characteristic of M1 or “classically activated” macrophages. Interestingly, ATMs from obese C-C motif chemokine receptor 2–KO (Ccr2-KO) mice express M2 markers at levels similar to those from lean mice. The antiinflammatory cytokine IL-10, which was overexpressed in ATMs from lean mice, protected adipocytes from TNF-α–induced insulin resistance. Thus, diet-induced obesity leads to a shift in the activation state of ATMs from an M2-polarized state in lean animals that may protect adipocytes from inflammation to an M1 proinflammatory state that contributes to insulin resistance.

Authors

Carey N. Lumeng, Jennifer L. Bodzin, Alan R. Saltiel

×

Figure 5

IL-10 signaling in adipocytes.

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
IL-10 signaling in adipocytes.
(A) Expression of IL-10 receptor in adipo...
(A) Expression of IL-10 receptor in adipose tissue. Immunoblots of lysates from adipose tissue (Ad), lung (Lu), and spleen (Sp) from mice probed with IL-10 receptor α (IL-10Rα) antibodies. (B) Expression of IL-10 receptor in adipocytes and not the SVF from adipose tissue. Epididymal fat pads from ND- and HFD-fed mice were collected and separated into SVF and adipocyte fractions. Lysates were prepared and immunoblotted with anti–IL-10 receptor antibodies and loading controls. (C) IL-10 treatment of adipocytes activates STAT3 and Akt. Differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes were stimulated with IL-10 (20 ng/ml) for the indicated times and lysates prepared. Immunoblots were probed with antibodies against phosphoY705-STAT3 and phosphoS473-Akt and STAT3 and Akt as loading controls. Experiments were repeated twice, and results of a representative experiment are shown.

Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)

Sign up for email alerts