Regulation of raft‐dependent endocytosis

• Introduction • Raft‐dependent endocytosis encompasses various pathways • Cav1 and the regulation of raft‐dependent endocytosis • Signaling and raft‐dependent endocytosis • Conclusion Raft‐dependent endocytosis is in large part defined as the cholesterol‐sensitive, clathrin‐independent internalization of ligands and receptors from the plasma membrane. It encompasses the endocytosis of caveo‐lae, smooth plasmalemmal vesicles that form a subdomain of cholesterol and sphingolipid‐rich lipid rafts and that are enriched for caveolin‐1. While sharing common mechanisms, like cholesterol sensitivity, raft endocytic routes show differential regulation by various cellular components including caveolin‐1, dynamin‐2 and regulators of the actin cytoskeleton. Dynamin‐dependent raft pathways, mediated by caveolae and morphologically equivalent non‐caveolin vesicular intermediates, are referred to as caveolae/raft‐dependent endocytosis. In contrast, dynamin‐independent raft pathways are mediated by non‐caveolar intermediates. Raft‐dependent endocytosis is regulated by tyrosine kinase inhibitors and, through the regulation of the internalization of various ligands, receptors and effectors, is also a determinant of cellular signaling. In this review, we characterize and discuss the regulation of raft‐dependent endocytic pathways and the role of key regulators such as caveolin‐1.