Historic overview of studies on fatty acid-binding proteins.- Detection, tissue distribution and (sub)cellular localization of fatty acid-binding protein types.- Fatty acid oxidation capacity and fatty acid-binding protein content of different cell types isolated from rat heart.- Localization of liver fatty acid-binding protein and its mRNA in the liver and jejunum of rats: an immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization study.- Amino acid sequence and some ligand binding properties of fatty acid-binding protein from bovine brain.- Type-specific immunodetection of human heart fatty acid-binding protein with polyclonal anti-peptide antibodies.- Bifunctional lipid-transfer: fatty acid-binding proteins in plants.- Characteristics of fatty acid-binding proteins and their relation to mammary-derived growth inhibitor.- Expression of a functionally active cardiac fatty acid-binding protein in the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae.- Expression of fatty acid-binding protein from bovine heart in Escherichia coli.- Expression of rat intestinal fatty acid-binding protein in E. coli and its subsequent structural analysis: a model system for studying the molecular details of fatty acid-protein interaction.- Crystal structure of chicken liver basic fatty acid-binding protein at 2.7 Å resolution.- 13C NMR studies of fatty acid-protein interactions: comparison of homologous fatty acid-binding proteins produced in the intestinal epithelium.- Assay of the binding of fatty acids by proteins: evaluation of the Lipidex 1000 procedure.- Fatty acid-binding protein from human heart localized in native and denaturing two-dimensional gels.- Revision of the amino acid sequence of human heart fatty acid-binding protein.- The chemical modification of cysteine-69 of rat liver fatty acid-bindingprotein (FABP): a fluorescence approach to FABP structure and function.- A comparison of heart and liver fatty acid-binding proteins: interactions with fatty acids and possible functional differences studies with fluorescent fatty acid analogues.- Role of fatty acid-binding proteins in cardiac fatty acid oxidation.- Modulation of fatty acid-binding capacity of heart fatty acid-binding protein by oxygen-derived free radicals.- Fatty acid-binding protein expression in the liver: its regulation and relationship to the zonation of fatty acid metabolism.- Effects of linoleic and gamma-linoleic acids (efamol evening primrose oil) on fatty acid-binding proteins of rat liver.- Quantitation of plasma membrane fatty acid-binding protein by enzyme dilution and monoclonal antibody based immunoassay.- The membrane fatty acid-binding protein is not identical to mitochondrial glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (mGOT).- Renal palmitate transport: possible sites for interaction with a plasma membrane fatty acid-binding protein.- Fatty acid-binding to erythrocyte ghost membranes and transmembrane movement.- Acyl-CoA-binding (ACBP) and its relation to fatty acid-binding protein (FABP): an overview.- Liver fatty acid-binding protein in two cases of human lipid storage.- Nomenclature of fatty acid-binding proteins.- Cellular fatty acid-binding proteins: Current concepts and future directions.

Twenty years have elapsed since cytoplasmic proteins exhibiting high-affinity binding of long-chain fatty acids were first identified (Ockner et al., Science 177:56-58, 1972). These cellular fatty acid-binding proteins (FABPs) are now well established to comprise a ligand-defined group of macromolecules belonging to a family of cytoplasmic lipid binding proteins. Unique features of the FABPs are the existence of distinct types of FABP and that these are found in a variety of tissues in remarkable abundance, with some cells expressing more than one type. The physiological significance of the FABPs has only partly been elucidated. By increasing the cytoplasmic solubilization of fatty acids, the cellular FABPs are considered to function primarily in intracellular fatty acid transport, but may also be assigned important regulatory roles in cellular lipid homeostasis as well as in the modulation of cell growth and differentiation. The broad interests in cellular FABPs has led to the organization of the 1st International Workshop on Fatty Acid-Binding Protein, held in Maastricht, the Netherlands, in 1989. Prompted by the success of the first meeting, the 2nd International Workshop on Fatty-Acid-Binding Proteins, which was held again in Maastricht, on August 31 and September 1, 1992, brought together scientific scpecialists in the field of FABP research for two days of intensive and fruitful discussion. This volume is a collection of selected papers from this conference, and thus provides the state-of-the-art knowledge of cellular FABPs. The contributors to this issue represent pioneering as well as new investigators, and also reflect the multidisciplinary nature of research in this exciting and rapidly progressing field.