Heart fatty acid binding protein is a novel regulator of cardiac myocyte hypertrophy

Heart fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) is a 15kDa protein that mediates the passage of fatty acids from the plasma membrane to sites of lipid synthesis. We report here, for the first time, that H-FABP is a potent inducer of cardiac myocyte hypertrophy, stimulating an increase in cell surface area, protein synthesis and c-jun expression. A high affinity receptor for H-FABP has also been identified. Taken together, these data suggest that H-FABP may participate in the regulation of cardiac myocyte growth and differentiation.