Platelets deficient in glycoprotein I have normal Fc receptor expression

Platelet glycoprotein I (GPI) is known to be required for the interaction of platelets with ristocetin and factor VIII:von Willebrand factor (VIII:vWf). However, its role as Fc receptor is not clear. Some studies have shown that enzymatic removal of GPI destroys the ability of platelets to react with VIII:vWf but not their ability to bind Ig G (IgG). Others have shown that IgG immune complexes which block the Fc receptor also inhibit VIII:vWf interaction with platelets. This subject has been re-examined by testing the ability of platelets with reduced amounts of GPI to aggregate and undergo the release reaction in response to stimuli which act at the platelet Fc receptor. Platelets from two patients with Bernard-Soulier syndrome, congenitally deficient in GPI, both aggregated and released 14C-serotonin normally when exposed to latex particles coated with IgG. Levels of GPI were decreased experimentally in normal platelets by treating them with chymotrypsin. Platelets treated in this manner did not aggregate or release [14C]serotonin in response to ristocetin-VIII:vWf. They did, however, both aggregate and release when incubated with heat-aggregated IgG, antigen-antibody complexes or latex particles coated with IgG. Thus the presence of GPI is not a prerequisite for platelet stimulation via the Fc receptor.