[Anti-platelet antibody and platelet function]

The effect of anti-platelet antibodies, including murine monoclonal antibodies, autoantibodies and alloantibodies, on platelet function was analyzed. The target antigen of these antiplatelet antibodies, investigated in the present study, was a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa, which is a receptor of fibrinogen and plays an important role in platelet aggregation. Some of these antibodies inhibited agonist-induced platelet aggregation. The target antigen of one murine monoclonal antibodies, designated OP-G2, was a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa and interestingly, this antibody induced platelet aggregation, which required divalent cation and fibrinogen. We compared the epitope of these antibodies by inhibition assay and found the epitope of these antibodies to be very close. The binding of OP-G2 to the platelets required Ca2+. These data suggest that OP-G2 recognizes an epitope at or in very close proximity to the fibrinogen binding site of GPIIb/IIIa, as compared with other antibodies.