Anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) found in sera from patients with antiphospholipid syndrome recognize a cryptic epitope that appears on the beta2-glycoprotein I (beta2-GPI) molecule when beta2-GPI interacts with a lipid membrane composed of negatively charged phospholipid or when beta2-GPI is adsorbed on a polyoxygenated polystyrene plate. A homology based model of beta2-GPI was constructed based on the NMR coordinates of sushi domains of human factor H. The conformation was like a cylinder consisting of five domains, its IV and V domains being glued by electrostatic interaction. We used phage-displayed random peptide libraries to search the epitopes of human aCL. Structures similar to consensus sequences selected by a biopanning method was found on domain IV of beta2-GPI.