Isolation and structural characterization of the polypeptide subunits of membrane glycoprotein IIb-IIIa from human platelets

We have previously demonstrated the isolation of platelet membrane glycoprotein IIb-IIIa by affinity chromatography with a specific monoclonal antibody. We have now separated the polypeptide subunits IIb and IIIa of the isolated glycoprotein by preparative sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and have compared their structural features. Both IIb and IIIa contain ~15% carbohydrate, but IIIa contains a larger percentage of mannose residues, suggesting the presence of high mannose as well as complex N-linked oligosaccharide chains. The amino acid compositions are sufficiently similar to imply areas of sequence homology between the two subunits. To examine further the relationship between the subunits, we digested a mixture of ¹²⁵I-IIb and ¹³¹I-IIIa with trypsin and then separated the radiolabeled peptides by high performance liquid chromatography. The resultant peptide maps of IIb and IIIa are completely different. This indicates that neither subunit is derived from the other and suggests that polypeptides IIb and IIIa are products of separate genes.