Role of Caveolin-3 in lipid uptake and accumulation in muscle cells

Aims: Caveolae are small specialized invaginations of the plasma membrane enriched in proteins of the caveolin family. Caveolin-3 is exclusively expressed in mature skeletal muscle and was shown to interact with proteins fatty acid translocase (FAT/CD36), β-adrenergic or insulin receptor. Intramuscular lipid accumulation is associated with insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes, and high concentrations of extracellular fatty acids. To determine whether caveolin-3 is involved in lipid metabolism in muscle cells, lipid uptake and accumulation was measured before and after in control and cav-3 siRNA transfected myot…