caveola GO:0005901 caveolar membrane Wikipedia:Caveolae A membrane raft that forms small pit, depression, or invagination that communicates with the outside of a cell and extends inward, indenting the cytoplasm and the cell membrane. Examples include flask-shaped invaginations of the plasma membrane in adipocytes associated with caveolin proteins, and minute pits or incuppings of the cell membrane formed during pinocytosis. Caveolae may be pinched off to form free vesicles within the cytoplasm. GO:0016599 caveolae cellular_component plasma membrane raft