Glycoprotein Ib beta (GPIb beta) exists in platelets disulfide-linked to glycoprotein Ib alpha (GPIb alpha), a major receptor for von Willebrand factor. Both GPIb alpha and GPIb beta are expressed in endothelial cells (EC). While the GPIb alpha mRNA and protein appear similar in platelets and EC, EC GPIb beta mRNA is larger than platelet GPIb beta and encodes a larger protein. We have cloned and sequenced EC GPIb beta cDNA and report a 2793-nucleotide sequence which contains a 411-amino acid open reading frame. The EC sequence contains all of the platelet cDNA sequence and all but three amino acids of the primary translation product. Like the genes encoding GPIb alpha, GPIX, and GPV, the GPIb beta gene appears simple in structure. Using human hamster hybrids, we have localized the GPIb beta gene to chromosome 22pter-->22q11.2. When we examined poly (A)+ RNA from several human tissues for GPIb beta mRNA expression, we found that GPIb beta mRNA was expressed in a variety of tissues but was most abundant in heart and brain, while GPIb alpha and GPIX mRNA expression was found only in lung and placenta at very low levels. The broad distribution of GPIb beta mRNA suggests that it may be playing a role different than or additional to its function in platelets.