Fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs) are small cytoplasmic proteins that are expressed in a highly tissue-specific manner and bind to fatty acids such as oleic and retinoic acid. Mice with a null mutation in aP2, the gene encoding the adipocyte FABP, were developmentally and metabolically normal. The aP2-deficient mice developed dietary obesity but, unlike control mice, they did not develop insulin resistance or diabetes. Also unlike their obese wild-type counterparts, obese aP2(-/-) animals failed to express in adipose tissue tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), a molecule implicated in obesity-related insulin resistance. These results indicate that aP2 is central to the pathway that links obesity to insulin resistance, possibly by linking fatty acid metabolism to expression of TNF-alpha.