Caveolin-1: separating its signaling activites from its caveolae organelle forming abilities

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Caveolae (Latin for 'small caves') are flask-shaped membrane invaginations found in most mammalian cells. Caveolin-1, the main coat protein of caveolae, is the dominant protein for the formation of caveolae; mice lacking the Caveolin-1 gene also lack caveolae in every non-muscle cells, providing direct evidence that Caveolin-1 is directly responsible for caveolae assembly. Study of caveolae show that they contain many signalling molecules, and it is now well accepted that caveolae formation is one of the most established approach to segregate and organize signalling complexes in a tri-dimensional manner. The importance of caveolae research is such that one of the pioneer of caveolae research, Dr. Michael Lisanti, is now the 13th most cited scientist of all time.