Lipid rafts are microdomains of plasma membranes enriched in cholesterol and sphingolipids in the outer layer. We determined whether opioid receptors (KOR) in human placenta and FLAG (DYKDDDDK)-tagged human KOR (FLAG-hKOR) expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are localized in lipid rafts and whether changes in cholesterol contents affect hKOR properties and signaling. Lipid rafts were prepared from placenta membranes and CHO cells expressing FLAG-hKOR using the Na 2 CO 3 method and fractionation through a sucrose density gradient. The majority of the KOR in the placenta and FLAG-hKOR in CHO cells, determined by [ 3 H]diprenorphine binding and/or immunoblotting with an anti-FLAG antibody, was present in low-density fractions, coinciding with high levels of caveolin-1 and cholesterol, markers of lipid rafts, which indicated that the KOR is localized in lipid rafts. Pretreatment with 2% methyl -cyclodextrin (MCD) reduced cholesterol content by ϳ48% and changed the cells from spindle-shaped to spherical. MCD treatment disrupted lipid rafts, shifted caveolin-1 and FLAG-hKOR to higher density fractions, increased the affinity of (Ϫ)-(trans)-3,4-dichloro-N-methyl-N-[2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)cyclohexyl]benzeneacetamide (U50,488H) for the hKOR, and greatly increased U50,488H-induced [35 S]guanosine 5Ј-O-(3-thio)triphosphate binding and p42/44 mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphorylation. Cholesterol replenishment reversed all the MCD effects. Caveolin-1 immunoprecipitated with G␣ i proteins and MCD treatment reduced caveolin-1 associated with G␣ i proteins, which may contribute to the enhanced agonist-induced G protein activation. Caveolin-1 also immunoprecipitated with FLAG-hKOR, but MCD treatment had no effect on the association. Thus, the KOR is located in lipid rafts and its localization in the microdomains greatly affects coupling to G proteins.Plasma membranes were traditionally viewed as uniform lipid bilayers and G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), G proteins, and membrane-bound effectors were randomly distributed in plasma membranes. In recent years, the concept that lipid rafts function as microdomains in plasma membranes to concentrate signaling molecules for regulated activation by related receptors has gained increasing acceptance (Pike, 2003;Chini and Parenti, 2004;Cohen et al., 2004). Lipid rafts are microdomains of cell membranes highly enriched in cholesterol and sphingolipids in the outer layer. Brown and Rose (1992) proposed the following operational definition of lipid rafts: when cell membranes were solubilized with ice-cold nonionic detergents such as Triton X-100 (1% for 1 h at 4°C) followed by sucrose density gradient centrifugation; lipid rafts are resistant to detergent solubilization and float in the lighter fractions, whereas the bulk of the solubilized cellular lipids and proteins are in the high-density fractions (Brown and Rose, 1992). There are two types of lipid rafts: planar lipid rafts and caveolae. Caveolae, a specialized subtype of lipid rafts, are flask-shaped invagi...