Cell biology of caveolae and its implication for clinical medicine

Caveolae are small invaginations of the plasma membrane found in many cell types, and caveolins are integral membrane proteins that form the framework of caveolae. In the past several years, research on caveolae has developed explosively, and caveolae and/or caveolins have been shown to play many important roles in cell physiology: in particular, they are thought to be related to signal transduction, cholesterol transport, endocytosis and tumor suppression. On the other hand, some studies have suggested that another membrane domain called rafts is also involved in the same processes, and some confusion remains concerning the relationship between these two domains. Abnormalities in caveolae and/or caveolins have been found in various diseases, including cancer, atherosclerosis, muscular dystrophy and the Alzheimer's disease, which may make this domain a new focus for pharmacological research. This review will focus on the cell biology of caveolae, caveolins and rafts, and then summarize the implications of these findings for clinical studies.