Silicosis caused by long-term exposure to dust containing free crystalline silica is the most common and serious occupational disease in China and other developing countries. 1 The lung cannot expel insoluble silica, which continuously stimulates macrophages and cause gradual and cumulative damage to the pulmonary parenchyma, resulting in diffuse chronic inflammation, formation of silicotic nodules and progressive fibrosis. 2 Patients with silicosis have progressive clinical lung function decline even 20 years after leaving the dust environment, 3 and eventually, suffer respiratory failure. Silicosis has no specific treatment except lung transplantation. 4 Therefore, knowledge of the pathogenesis and effective therapeutic targets of silicosis is critical. Caveolae are invaginations in the plasma membrane of cells that regulate signal transduction, lipid metabolism and receptor-mediated
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