Localization of the Calcium-Sensitive Actin Monomer Binding Site in Gelsolin to Segment 4 and Identification of Calcium Binding Sites

Gelsolin is composed of six repeating segments of sequence (G1-6) and contains three distinct actin binding sites, two that bind to G-actin and one that binds to filaments. The calcium-dependent actin monomer binding site present in the carboxyl-terminal half of the protein (G4-6) plays a critical role both in the cooperative binding of actin by gelsolin and in its nucleating activity. Here we have localized this actin binding site to segment 4 (G4) by expressing the segments G4, G4-5, G5, and G5-6 in Escherichia coli and analyzing their actin binding properties. In addition we have measured their calcium binding. G4-5 and G5-6 each bind a single calcium ion, but there is no binding by G4 or G5. The affinity of binding by G5-6 is 10 times higher than that of G4-5, and calcium binding by G4-6 shows two sites of different affinity. Thus each actin binding site of gelsolin is restricted to a single segment (G1, G2, and G4), but the nonbinding segments G5 and G6 play an important role in the calcium regulation of actin binding and other activities of gelsolin.