Location of the binding site of the mannose-specific lectin comitin on F-actin.

We have used electron microscopy and computer image processing to produce a three-dimensional reconstruction of F-actin filaments decorated with the putative lectin and actin-binding protein comitin. These reconstructions show that comitin binds to F-actin at high radius primarily to actin subdomain 1. This location is distinctly different from the binding site on F-actin for other actin bundling proteins, such as members of the alpha-actinin family, and may result from the positively charged comitin interacting with negatively charged sites near the actin N terminus in subdomain 1. The location of the comitin binding site and its restriction to subdomain 1 on a single actin monomer is consistent with comitin's having a function distinct from other actin-binding proteins and, for example, would enable comitin to link bundled actin filaments to the Golgi. Copyright 1998 Academic Press