Why do you think your paper is highly cited?

This review article is a general one that addresses a broad topic: compartmentation in the cellular plasma membrane of signal transduction molecules, which is of considerable current interest to investigators in many different specific research areas.

Would you summarize the significance of your paper in layman's terms?

In the article, my colleagues and I summarize findings for a wide variety of hormone/drug receptor systems. The recognition that cells have what are akin to "signaling factories," some of which are located in lipid/membrane rafts and caveolae (rafts that contain the protein caveolin), has been found in many cell types and contributes to normal function and disease, in particular in the cardiovascular system, which we emphasize in this review article.

Where do you see your research leading in the future?

Future work will likely help define the precise molecular mechanisms for localization, entry and exit of signaling molecules in rafts/caveolae and whether regulation of such localization can be exploited as a therapeutic target.

Paul A. Insel, M.D.
Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine
Vice-Chair, Department of Pharmacology
University of California San Diego, School of Medicine
La Jolla, CA, USA

KEYWORDS: SIGNALING MOLECULES; CAVEOLIN; MYOCARDIAL ISCHEMIA; PULMONARY HYPERTENSION.