Abstract
Caveolae are small membrane invaginations that generally are stably attached to the plasma membrane. Their release is believed to depend on the GTPase dynamin 2 (Dyn2), in analogy with its role in fission of clathrin-coated vesicles. The mechanistic understanding of caveola fission is, however, sparse. Here, we used microscopy-based tracking of individual caveolae in living cells to determine the role of Dyn2 in caveola dynamics. We report that Dyn2 stably associated with the bulb of a subset of caveolae, but was not required for formation or fission of caveolae. Dyn2-positive caveolae displayed longer plasma membrane duration times, whereas depletion of Dyn2 resulted in shorter duration times and increased caveola fission. The stabilizing role of Dyn2 was independent of its GTPase activity and the caveola stabilizing protein EHD2. Thus, we propose that, in contrast to the current view, Dyn2 is not a core component of the caveolae machinery, but rather functions as an accessory protein that restrains caveola internalization.