Three proteins, caveolin-1, caveolin-2 and caveolin-3, have been identified as principal components of caveolae. Caveolin 1 and caveolin 2 are located next to each other on chromosome 7 and express colocalizing proteins that form a stable hetero-oligomeric complex.Two forms of caveolin-1, designated alpha and beta, share a distinct but overlapping cellular distribution and differ by an amino terminal 31 amino acid sequence which is absent from the beta isoform. Caveolin-1 shares 31% identity with caveolin-2 and 65% identity with caveolin-3 at the amino acid level.
