FATTY-ACID-BINDING PROTEINS AND MAMMARY-DERIVED GROWTH INHIBITOR

The multigene superfamily of intracellular lipid binding proteins in m ammals comprises up to now 13 different types of 14-15 kDa proteins, w hose foremost high-affinity ligands are long-chain fatty acids, retino ids and bile acids, respectively. The phylogenetically related protein s of highly conserved tertiary structure are encoded by genes, that ar e canonically structured into four exons and three introns. In additio n, three genes are characterized by promoter regions with responsive e lements common to many genes encoding lipid-metabolizing enzymes, that interact with nuclear receptors activated by peroxisome proliferators or fatty acids. On the basis of interactions of fatty acids actually macronutrients - with the ligand activated nuclear receptors and with the fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs) the regulation of FABP-express ion and the functions of the various FABP-types in cellular lipid home ostasis, signal transduction and growth regulation will be reviewed.