Human natural antibodies to porcine platelets

The specificity of human natural antibodies directed against blood cells from pigs was investigated by ELISA and immunoblotting. Both IgG and IgM were identified as xenoantibodies reacting with pig platelets adsorbed to microplates. The antibodies could be absorbed on platelets as well as on RBC, suggesting that the corresponding antigens are expressed on the surface of a variety of cells. Galactose (20 mM) and melibiose (10 mM) partially inhibited (approximately 50%) the binding of antibodies to platelets, whereas lactose and cellobiose (300 mM) did not. On immunoblots, platelet glycoproteins of 115, 125, 135, 180, and 210 kDa were specifically revealed with human sera diluted 1/20. In contrast with the results obtained by ELISA, xenoantibodies reactive with blotted glycoproteins were of the IgM class and the binding was not significantly inhibited by galactose or melibiose. "Anti-Gal" antibodies, purified from human sera by affinity chromatography on a melibiose-Sepharose immunoabsorbent, represented only a minor portion of the antibodies reactive with porcine platelets. Purified anti-Gal antibodies bound to the 115- and 135-kDa components, whereas the antibodies in the nonretained fraction revealed the 125-kDa molecule. As deduced from these data, human serum contains natural antibodies of both IgG and IgM classes directed to several porcine antigens. Gal-reactive structures were identified on the 115- and 135-kDa platelet glycoproteins, which might be homologous to their counterpart on endothelial cells. Also, the present work suggests that a majority of the natural antibodies reacted with other unidentified structures.