A calciumdiscoideum and pH-regulated protein from dictyostelium that cross-links actin filaments

We have purified an actin binding protein from amebas of Dictyostelium discoideum which we call 95,000-dalton protein (95K). This protein is rod shaped, ~40 nm long in the electron microscope, contains two subunits measuring 95,000 daltons each, and cross-links actin filaments. Cross-linking activity was demonstrated by using falling-ball viscometry, Ostwald viscometry, and electron microscopy. Cross-linking activity is optimal at 0.1 µM Ca⁺⁺ and pH 6.8, but is progressively inhibited at higher Ca⁺⁺ and pH levels over a physiological range. Half-maximal inhibition occurs at 1.6 µM free Ca⁺⁺ and pH 7.3, respectively. Sedimentation experiments demonstrate that elevated Ca⁺⁺ and pH inhibit the binding of 95K to Factin which explains the loss of cross-linking activity. Electron microscopy demonstrates that, under optimal conditions for cross-linking, 95K protein bundles actin filaments and that this bundling is inhibited by µM Ca⁺⁺. Severing of actin filaments by 95K was not observed in any of the various assays under any of the solution conditions used. Hence, 95K protein is a rod-shaped, dimeric, Ca⁺⁺ - and pH-regulated actin binding protein that cross-links but does not sever actin filaments.