what is the role of retinol binding protein?
Fish eggs contain carotenoids, retinals (retinal and dehydroretinal) and retinols (retinol, dehydroretinol and retinyl-esters) that are utilized during embryonic development, after fertilization. The carotenoids (mainly astaxanthins) are transported in the plasma by the low density lipoproteins, high density lipoproteins, and very high density lipoproteins (VHDL) and were found to be associated also with serum albumin. Retinals were found to be associated vitellogenin (VTG), a component of the plasma VHDL fraction that is internalized by oocytes during vitellogenesis. However, the transport of retinols and retinyl-esters that were located in the oil droplet fraction of homogenized eggs, has yet to be elucidated. Retinols are more abundant in freshwater fish eggs than in eggs of marine fish species. Since retinol is transported in the plasma of vertebrates in association with retinol binding protein (RBP), recent studies on the molecular characterization and expression sites of RBP, cou
