The activation of gelsolin by low pH - The calcium latch is sensitive to calcium but not pH

Gelsolin is a multidomain and multifunction protein that nucleates the assembly of filaments and severs them. The activation of gelsolin by calcium is a multistep process involving many calcium binding sites that act to unfold the molecule from a tight structure to a more loose form in which three actin-binding sites become exposed. Low pH is also known to activate gelsolin, in the absence of calcium and this too results in an unfolding of the molecule. Less is known how pH-activation occurs but we show that there are significant differences in the mechanisms that lead to activation. Crucially, while it is known that the bonds between G2 and G6 are broken by co-operative occupancy of calcium binding sites in both domains [Lagarrique, E., Maciver, S. K., Fattoum, A., Benyamin, Y. & Roustan, C. (2003) Eur. J. Biochem. 270, 2236-2243.], pH values that activate gelsolin do not result in a weakening of the G2-G6 bonds. We report the existence of pH-dependent conformational changes within G2 and in G4-6 that differ from those induced by calcium, and that low pH overrides the requirement for calcium for actin-binding within G4-6 to a modest extent so that a K-d of 1 muM is measured, compared to 30-40 nM in the presence of calcium. Whereas the pH-dependent conformational change in G2 is possibly different from the change induced by calcium, the changes measured in G4-6 appear to be similar in both calcium and low pH.