Caveolae: From cell biology to animal physiology

Among the membrane compartments of a cell, vesicles known as caveolae have long defied functional characterization. However, since the identification of a family of proteins termed caveolins, that form and reside in caveolae, a better understanding has emerged. It is now clear that caveolae do not merely play a singular role in the cell, but are pleiotropic in nature-serving to modulate many cellular functions. The purpose of this review is to explicate what is known about caveolins/caveolae and highlight growing areas of caveolar research.