Retinol is esterified to palmitic acid and delivered to the blood via chylomicrons.
The uptake of chylomicron remnants by the liver results in delivery of retinol to this organ for storage as a lipid ester within lipocytes. Plasma transport of retinoic acid is accomplished by binding to albumin. Within cells both retinol and retinoic acid bind to specific receptor proteins. Following binding, the receptor-vitamin complex interacts with specific sequences in several genes involved in growth and differentiation and affects expression of these genes. Vitamin D also acts in a similar capacity.