Caveolin-1 (Cav-1), an important composition protein within the flask-shaped membrane invaginations termed caveolae, may play a role in host defense against infections. However, the phenotype in Pseudomonas aeruginosa-infected cav1 knock-out (KO) mice is still unresolved, and the mechanism involved is almost entirely unknown. Using a respiratory infection model, we confirmed a crucial role played by Cav-1 in host defense against this pathogen because Cav-1 KO mice showed increased mortality, severe lung injury, and systemic dissemination as compared with wild-type (WT) littermates. In addition, cav1 KO mice exhibited elevated inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, TNF-␣, and IL-12a), decreased phagocytic ability of macrophages, and increased superoxide release in the lung, liver, and kidney. We further studied relevant cellular signaling processes and found that STAT3 and NF-B are markedly activated. Our data revealed that the Cav-1/STAT3/NF-B axis is responsible for a dysregulated cytokine response, which contributes to increased mortality and disease progression. Moreover, downregulating Cav-1 in cell culture with a dominant negative strategy demonstrated that STAT3 activation was essential for the translocation of NF-B into the nucleus, confirming the observations from cav1 KO mice. Collectively, our studies indicate that Cav-1 is critical for inflammatory responses regulating the STAT3/NF-B pathway and thereby impacting P. aeruginosa infection.Pseudomonas aeruginosa accounts for 25% of Gram-negative bacteria isolated from hospitals and is associated with high morbidity and mortality (1). P. aeruginosa frequently infects immunocompromised individuals, such as those affected by ventilator-associated infection, severe burns, and cancer (2). More than 80% of cystic fibrosis patients suffer severe P. aeruginosa infection (3). This bacterium becomes increasingly resistant to various antibiotics. Further understanding the mechanism of the host-pathogen interaction may result in effective approaches to preventing this infection. Thus, P. aeruginosa has been a focus of airway infectious diseases (1, 4 -6).Recent studies suggest that P. aeruginosa also invades the lung epithelial cells through lipid raft-mediated endocytosis (7-9), which is a possible reason why this bacterium develops such formidable resistance to antibiotics (10). The invasion process of P. aeruginosa may involve certain lipid raft-associated proteins, including the caveolin family of proteins (9). Using caveolin-1 (cav1) 3 KO mice, two recent studies investigated the role of Cav-1 during P. aeruginosa infection (11, 12); however, their observations were very different. Thus, the role of Cav-1 in this infection needs to be clearly characterized.Caveolins are a family of integral membrane proteins involved in caveola formation and receptor-dependent endocytosis (13-15). Cav-1 and -2 are co-expressed in various cells, such as endothelial cells, airway epithelial cells, and type I pneumocytes. Cav-1 is the major component of caveolae, flaskshaped plasma membran...