Abstract
The presence of antibodies against the complex of prothrombin and phosphatidylserine (aPS/PT) more significantly correlates with manifestations of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and with the presence of lupus anticoagulants (LA) than antibodies against prothrombin bound to oxygenated polystyrene (aPT-A). To investigate immunological specificities and functional activities of aPS/PT, four monoclonal aPS/PT, designated as HG-4, KE-6, KF-5 and KF-6, from two patients with antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) were established and characterized. Three of these antibodies (HG-4, KF-5 and KF-6) recognized the complex of phosphatidylserine and prothrombin, but did not react to prothrombin directly coated on oxygenated plates. KE-6 bound not only to the complex of phosphatidylserine and prothrombin but also to prothrombin on oxygenated plates. None of them showed the binding activity to prothrombin directly coated on non-oxygenated plates. HG-4, KE-6 and KF-5 had LA-like activity. The findings support the hypothesis that autoimmune aPS/PT recognize the cryptic epitopes or neoepitopes exposed upon interaction between prothrombin and phosphatidylserine, and that aPS/PT are, at least in part, responsible for LA activity. Lupus (2007)
Keywords
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
