Vacuolar H؉ -ATPase (V-ATPase) binds actin filaments with high affinity (K d ؍ 55 nM; Lee, B. S., Gluck, S. L., and Holliday, L. S. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 29164 -29171). We have proposed that this interaction is an important mechanism controlling transport of V-ATPase from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane of osteoclasts. Here we show that both the B1 (kidney) and B2 (brain) isoforms of the B subunit of V-ATPase contain a microfilament binding site in their amino-terminal domain. In pelleting assays containing actin filaments and partially disrupted V-ATPase, B subunits were found in greater abundance in actin pellets than were other V-ATPase subunits, suggesting that the B subunit contained an F-actin binding site. In overlay assays, biotinylated actin filaments also bound to the B subunit. A fusion protein containing the amino-terminal half of B1 subunit bound actin filaments tightly, but fusion proteins containing the carboxyl-terminal half of B1 subunit, or the full-length E subunit, did not bind F-actin. Fusion proteins containing the amino-terminal 106 amino acids of the B1 isoform or the amino-terminal 112 amino acids of the B2 isoform bound filamentous actin with K d values of 130 and 190 nM, respectively, and approached saturation at 1 mol of fusion protein/mol of filamentous actin. The B1 and B2 amino-terminal fusion proteins competed with V-ATPase for binding to filamentous actin. In summary, binding sites for F-actin are present in the aminoterminal domains of both isoforms of the B subunit, and likely are responsible for the interaction between VATPase and actin filaments in vivo.
V-ATPase1 is an evolutionarily ancient enzyme that performs such vital functions as acidification of lysosomes, CURL (compartments for uncoupling of receptor and ligand) compartments, and a multitude of other compartments in the vacuolar system of eukaryotic cells (2-5). In addition, certain cells express copious quantities of V-ATPase on the plasma membrane. In osteoclasts, V-ATPase is transported to a specialized domain of the apical plasma membrane, known as the ruffled membrane, that forms at the site of osteoclast attachment upon activation to resorb bone (6, 7). V-ATPases in the ruffled membrane transport protons into the resorption compartment to create the acidic pH required for bone resorption. V-ATPases are also abundant on the plasma membrane of the kidney intercalated cell, which is responsible for hydrogen ion and bicarbonate transport in the cortical and outer medullary collecting duct (8). In the H ϩ -secreting intercalated cells, V-ATPase is stored in a specialized intracellular tubulovesicular compartment, but is recruited rapidly to the apical plasma membrane in response to systemic administration of nonvolatile acid (8, 9).The V-ATPase is composed of at least 13 subunits divided into two major domains, V 1 and V 0 (2, 3). V 1 , which is composed of proteins peripheral to the membrane, contains the A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H subunits. The A and B subunits, which share homology with the ␣ and  su...