CD63/Pltgp40: A platelet activation antigen identical to the stage-specific, melanoma-associated antigen ME491

CD63 is a 53-Kd lysosomal membrane glycoprotein that has been identified as a platelet activation molecule. The current study presents evidence that CD63 and Pltgp40, a platelet membrane glycoprotein identified in this laboratory, are the same molecule and that CD63/Pltgp40 is identical to the well-characterized, stage-specific melanoma-associated antigen ME491. Identity of CD63 and Pltgp40 was demonstrated by immunoprecipitation and sequential immunodepletion studies, which showed that the anti-Pltgp40 monoclonal antibody (MoAb) H5C6 and an anti-CD63 MoAb CLB/Gran12 recognized the same 40- to 55-Kd platelet glycoprotein. In addition, the anti-CD63 MoAb specifically recognized immunoaffinity-purified Pltgp40. Amino acid sequences obtained from NH₂-terminal and tryptic fragment peptides of Pltgp40 were used to generate complementary DNA (cDNA) probes using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. A 386-bp cDNA probe partially encoding CD63/Pltgp40 and a full length cDNA probe were 100% identical to the corresponding sequence of ME491. Antibodies H5C6 and CLB/Gran12 immunoprecipitated a 30- to 60-Kd heterodisperse glycoprotein from G361 melanoma cells, as had previously been reported for antibodies recognizing ME491. These data, taken together with the extensive homology recently reported between ME491, the Schistosoma mansoni membrane antigen SM23, CD37, the tumor-associated antigen CO-029, and the target of an antiproliferative antibody-1, suggest that CD63 is a member of a new family of related molecules.