GUILT BY INSOLUBILITY - DOES A PROTEINS DETERGENT INSOLUBILITY REFLECT CAVEOLAR LOCATION

Several recent papers have described a simple approach to isolate caveolae and proteins involved in apical sorting in epithelial cells that is based on their detergent insolubility. These publications have excited such diverse fields of cell biology as intracellular protein transport, signal transduction and, in particular research into caveolae. In this article Kurzchalia, Hartmann and Dupree argue that a more critical evaluation of this detergent insolubility is needed before a subcellular location or function can be ascribed to a protein.