Members of this family are small proteins that bind hydrophobic ligands in a non-covalent, reversible manner. They protect and shuttle fatty acids within the cell and are involved in acquisition and removal of fatty acids from intracellular sites. They include cellular retinol-binding proteins (CRBPs) which participate in the cellular uptake of vitamin A in the form of free retinol, cellular retinoic acid-binding proteins (CRABPs) which participate in the metabolism of vitamin A and retinoic acid, and bind all trans retinoic acid, but not retinol, and FABPs similar to FABP3 which plays an important role in fatty acid transportation, cell growth, cell signaling, and gene transcription.