Flotillin-1 defines a clathrin-independent endocytic pathway in mammalian cells

Previous studies provide evidence for an endocytic mechanism in mammalian cells that is distinct from both clathrin-coated pits and caveolae1,2,3,4,5, and is not inhibited by overexpression of GTPase-null dynamin mutants1,2,3,4,6. This mechanism, however, has been defined largely in these negative terms. We applied a ferro-fluid-based purification of endosomes to identify endosomal proteins. One of the proteins identified in this way was flotillin-1 (also called reggie-2)7,8. Here, we show that flotillin-1 resides in punctate structures within the plasma membrane and in a specific population of endocytic intermediates. These intermediates accumulate both glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-linked proteins and cholera toxin B subunit4,9. Endocytosis in flotillin-1-containing intermediates is clathrin-independent. Total internal reflection microscopy and immuno-electron microscopy revealed that flotillin-1-containing regions of the plasma membrane seem to bud into the cell, and are distinct from clathrin-coated pits and caveolin-1-positive caveolae10. Flotillin-1 small interfering RNA (siRNA) inhibited both clathrin-independent uptake of cholera toxin and endocytosis of a GPI-linked protein. We propose that flotillin-1 is one determinant of a clathrin-independent endocytic pathway in mammalian cells.