In biology, caveolae (Latin for little caves) are small invaginations of the plasma membrane in many cell types, especially in endothelial cells. Some cell types, like neurons, may completely lack caveolae. Main articles: Life The most salient example of biological universality is that all living things share a common carbon-based biochemistry and in particular pass on their characteristics via genetic material, which is based on nucleic acids such as DNA and which uses a common genetic code with only minor... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Drawing of a cell membrane A component of every biological cell, the cell membrane (or plasma membrane) is a thin and structured bilayer of phospholipid and protein molecules that envelopes the cell. ... Cells in culture, stained for keratin (red) and DNA (green) The cell is the structural and functional unit of all living organisms, and are sometimes called the building blocks of life. ... The endothelium is the layer of thin, flat cells that lines the interior surface of blood vessels, forming an interface between circulating blood in the lumen and the rest of the vessel wall. ... Drawing by Santiago Ramón y Cajal of cells in the pigeon cerebellum. ...

These flask-shaped structures are rich in proteins including caveolins and lipids and are used for several functions in signal transduction (Anderson, 1998). They are also believed to play a role in endocytosis, oncogenesis, and caveolins in the uptake of pathogenic bacteria (Li et al., 2005). Caveolae are one source of clathrin independent endocytosis involved in turnover of adhesive complexes. A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. ... Figure 1: Structure of a Lipid. ... In biology, signal transduction is any process by which a cell converts one kind of signal or stimulus into another. ... Endocytosis is a process where cells absorb material (molecules or other cells) from outside by engulfing it with their cell membranes. ... A pathogen or infectious agent is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its host. ... Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Omnibacteria Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria (singular, bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. ... Clathrin is a protein that is the major constituent of the coat of the coated pits and coated vesicles formed during endocytosis of materials at the surface of cells. ...

Maintenance of caveolae is primarily due to the protein caveolin. A second abundant caveolar protein in endothelia is reggie-1 also named ESA or flotillin-2. It belongs to a protein family, that has been implicated in mechanotransduction. A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. ... The caveolin gene family has three members in vertebrates: Caveolin-1, Caveolin-2, and Caveolin-3. ...