To aggressively proliferate and metastasize, cancer cells are in extreme need of energy supply and nutrients. Therefore, a promising cancer therapy strategy is developed to target its hallmark feature of metabolism. Recent findings revealed the regulatory role of caveolin-1 (Cav-1), a structural protein of caveolae, in cancer metabolism. And low Cav-1 expression in tumor stroma was proved to be a central player of cancer malignant phenotype. Here, we summarized the progressions of studies on Cav-1, mitochondria and cancer metabolism to indicate that the altered metabolism induced by Cav-1 and mitochondria association is a major cause of cancer malignant phenotype.
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the property of osteogenic induction. As a result, using the property of MSCs to treat the fractures and bone defects has become a new treatment modality with the development of cell and tissue engineering technology. Caveolae is a flask-shaped membrane microdomain in cell membrane, which composed primarily of cholesterol, sphingolipids and proteins. Caveolin-1 is one of the main protein component. Caveolae is the integrator of cell signals, and many signal molecules gather here to bind with caveolin-1 protein to regulate cell proliferation, differentiation and other life activities. This paper presents a review about Caveolae/Caveolin-1 biologic effects on cell differentiation of MSCs.
