In this review, we describe the platelet surface molecules with special focus on the
polymorphic glycoproteins giving rise to the human platelet alloantigen (HPA) system. We
list the platelet glycoprotein complexes GPIa/IIa, GPIIb/IIIa, GPIb/V/IX and some other
molecules, the corresponding genes that encode them and we describe their
polymorphisms as well as their physiological function. Based on data obtained by
serological and molecular methods, we explain how ancestral HPA alloepitopes have …