Abstract
Dysfunction of caveolae is involved in human muscle disease, although the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. In this paper, we have functionally characterized mouse and zebrafish models of caveolae-associated muscle disease. Using electron tomography, we quantitatively defined the unique three-dimensional membrane architecture of the mature muscle surface. Caveolae occupied around 50% of the sarcolemmal area predominantly assembled into multilobed rosettes. These rosettes were preferentially disassembled in response to increased membrane tension. Caveola-deficient cavin-1(-/-) muscle fibers showed a striking loss of sarcolemmal organization, aberrant T-tubule structures, and increased sensitivity to membrane tension, which was rescued by muscle-specific Cavin-1 reexpression. In vivo imaging of live zebrafish embryos revealed that loss of muscle-specific Cavin-1 or expression of a dystrophy-associated Caveolin-3 mutant both led to sarcolemmal damage but only in response to vigorous muscle activity. Our findings define a conserved and critical role in mechanoprotection for the unique membrane architecture generated by the caveolin-cavin system.