Mechanical forces (extracellular matrix stiffness, vascular shear stress, and muscle stretching) reaching the plasma membrane (PM) determine cell behavior. Caveolae are PM-invaginated nanodomains with specific lipid and protein composition. Being highly abundant in mechanically challenged tissues (muscles, lungs, vessels, and adipose tissues), they protect cells from mechanical stress damage. Caveolae flatten upon increased PM tension, enabling both force sensing and accommodation, critical for cell mechanoprotection and homeostasis. Thus, caveolae are highly plastic, ranging in complexity from flattened membranes to vacuolar invaginations surrounded by caveolae—rosettes—which also contribute to mechanoprotection. Caveolar components crosstalk with mechanotransduction pathways and recent studies show that they translocate from the PM to the nucleus to convey stress information. Furthermore, caveolae components can regulate membrane traffic from/to the PM to adapt to environmental mechanical forces. The interdependence between lipids and caveolae starts to be understood, and the relevance of caveolae-dependent membrane trafficking linked to mechanoadaption to different physiopathological processes is emerging.

到达质膜（PM）的机械力（细胞外基质硬度，血管切应力和肌肉拉伸）决定了细胞的行为。小窝是具有特定脂质和蛋白质组成的PM掺入的纳米域。它们在受到机械攻击的组织（肌肉，肺，血管和脂肪组织）中含量很高，可以保护细胞免受机械应力的破坏。小孔在PM张力增加时变平，从而既可以进行力感测又可以调节，这对于细胞机械保护和体内平衡至关重要。因此，小孔是高度可塑性的，其复杂程度从变平的膜到被小孔包围的液泡内陷（玫瑰花结），其也有助于机械保护。小窝成分与机械传导途径发生串扰，最近的研究表明，它们从PM转运到细胞核以传递应力信息。此外，小孔组件可以调节膜从PM到PM的流量，以适应​​环境机械力。脂质和小窝之间的相互关系开始被理解，与小窝相关的膜运输与机械适应相关的不同生理病理过程之间的相关性正在出现。