Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University
Abstract: 
Caveolae,the flask-shaped pits covered by caveolin-cavin coats, are abundant features ofthe plasma membrane of many cells. Besides appearing as single membraneindentations, caveolae are organized as superstructures in the form ofrosette-like clusters, whose mechanism of assembly and biological functionshave been elusive. Here we propose that clustering of caveolae is driven byforces originating from the elastic energy of membrane bending deformations andmembrane tension. We substantiate this mechanism by computational modeling,which recovers the unique shapes observed for the most ubiquitous caveolarclusters. We support the agreement between the calculated and observedconfigurations by electron tomography of caveolar clusters. The model predicts,quantitatively, the experimentally assessable dependences of caveolarclustering on membrane tension and on the degree of polymerization of thecaveolin-cavin coats. We propose that the role played by large caveolarclusters in cells is to substantially reinforce the mechano-protective functionof caveolae.