ANTIGENIC HOMOLOGY OF HIV-1 GP41 AND HUMAN PLATELET GLYCOPROTEIN GPIIIA (INTEGRIN BETA(3))

Fifty-eight of 89 serum samples (65.17%) from HIV-l-infected individua ls at various disease stages contain antibodies that react with a plat elet peptide located in the cytoplasmic domain of integrin beta(3),, g lycoprotein GPIIIa (aa749-761; sequence DRKEFAKFEEERA). Rabbit polyclo nal antibodies raised against the synthetic platelet peptide also reac t with the structurally homologous HIV-1 gp41-derived peptide (EKNEQEL LELDKW(A)) and bind to a Western blot band with molecular weight corre sponding to HIV-1 gp41. These findings point to molecular mimicry betw een HIV-1 and a human membrane protein found in platelets and other ce lls that could be of pathologic consequence.