Insulin enhanced leptin-induced STAT3 signaling by inducing GRP78

Leptin, an adipocyte-derived hormone, centrally regulates energy homeostasis. Overlaps in the regulation of glucose and energy homeostasis have been reported between leptin and insulin. However, the effects of insulin on leptin’s actions in the central nervous system (CNS) have not yet been elucidated in detail. In the present study, we found that insulin potentiated leptin’s actions through GRP78 in the neuronal cell line, SH-SY5Y-ObRb. Since insulin induces GRP78, we speculated that it may also enhance leptin’s actions through this induction. We found that insulin enhanced leptin-induced STAT3 phosphorylation and this effect was ameliorated by the knockdown of GRP78. The role of GRP78 in leptin’s actions was also confirmed by impairments in leptin-induced STAT3 phosphorylation in HEK293-ObRb cells in which GRP78 was knocked down. Furthermore, we found that the overexpression of GRP78 enhanced leptin-induced STAT3 phosphorylation. These results suggest that GRP78 plays an important role in leptin’s actions. Furthermore, insulin may enhance the leptin-induced activation of STAT3 by inducing GRP78, which may provide an important connection between insulin and leptin in the CNS.