CRABP1 (D7F9T) Rabbit mAb #13163

Vitamin A gives rise to multiple species of biologically active lipophilic metabolites, known as retinoids, which play a critical role in numerous physiological processes such as vision and embryonic development. Intracellularly, all-trans retinoic acid is bound with high affinity to either cellular retinoic acid-binding protein 1 (CRABP1) or cellular retinoic acid-binding protein 2 (CRABP2), which aids in its solubilization within the aqueous cytosolic compartment. Belonging to the intracellular lipid-binding protein family (iLBP), the human CRABPs are 74% identical at the protein level and each CRABP is highly conserved across multiple species. Research studies have shown that knockout of Crabp1 is not lethal but results in defects in limb development (1), suggesting that CRABP1 plays a role in establishing retinoic acid concentration gradients in the developing limb bud. Although it remains unclear how CRABP1 may regulate the formation of retinoic acid gradients in vivo, research studies have suggested that CRABP1 can enhance the activities of intracellular retinoic acid-metabolizing enzymes, thus blunting cellular responses to retinoic acid (2-4).