Immunohistochemistry for CRBPs and CRABPs

The existence of two classes of intracellular retinoid-binding proteins, the cellular retinol-binding proteins (CRBP I and II) and cellular retinoic acid-binding proteins (CRABP I and II), have been known for a long time (1 ). Yet, the precise roles of these proteins in retinoid physiology remains poorly defined. One of the major reasons for this has been the difficulties of generating high-quality antibodies to facilitate their detection in tissues and cells by immunohistochemical techniques.