Caveolin-1: A New Locus for Human Lipodystrophy

Caveolae are specialized plasma membrane microdomains appearing as 50- to 100-nm vesicular invaginations (1,2). These organelles were initially identified by Yamada (3) more than 50 yr ago and can be found individually or in clusters at the surface of several cell types, including adipocytes, endothelial cells, fibroblasts, and myocytes. These plasma membrane domains, often referred to as lipid rafts, are rich in cholesterol, glycosphingolipids, and signaling proteins, especially caveolins. Caveolins are major components of the caveolae, and three members of this family (caveolins 1, 2, and 3) have been identified.