Serglycin modulates inflammation and metabolism in macrophages

Serglycin is a key hematopoietic proteoglycan that regulates the storage and retention of proteases, cytokines, and chemokines within immune-cell secretory granules. We previously identified serglycin as the predominant proteoglycan secreted by macrophages and a regulator of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) release following lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Here, we analyzed serglycin expression in peritoneal macrophages from 92 mouse strains in the hybrid mouse diversity panel (HMDP) after LPS exposure and investigated its role in M1 polarization using serglycin-deficient murine bone marrow-derived macrophages and human THP-1 macrophages stimulated with LPS and interferon-γ (IFN-γ). Serglycin upregulation is strongly associated with M1 polarization and correlated with TNF-α and IFN-γ transcriptional signatures across models. Integrated transcriptomic and secretome analyses revealed a marked discordance between mRNA and protein output in serglycin-deficient macrophages, with impaired cytokine secretion despite elevated transcript levels, validated by RT-qPCR and ELISA. Loss of serglycin additionally affected macrophage metabolism, vesicle biogenesis, phagocytosis, and extracellular reactive oxygen species generation, identifying serglycin as a key regulator of macrophage polarization and functional programming.