pH dependence of actin self-assembly.

Fluorescence enhancement and fluorescence photobleaching recovery have been utilized to examine actin self-assembly over the pH range 6.6-8.0. The kinetics of assembly are faster and the critical concentrations are lower at lower pH. Filament diffusion coefficients are not a function of pH, indicating that average filament lengths are not pH dependent. Although critical actin concentrations are a sensitive function of the concentrations of various cations in the medium, the relative pH dependences of critical concentrations are similar for all combinations of cations employed. The pH dependence of actin self-assembly is sufficiently great that it should be taken into account when comparing data from different reports and when relating in vitro measurements to cytoplasmic mechanisms.