We have examined the in vivo localization of extracellular ecto-ATPase and ecto-apyrase (ATPDase) in adult chicken gizzard and stomach by immunofluorescence and laser scanning confocal microscopy. In chicken gizzard, the ecto-ATPase was distributed in discrete clusters restricted to the sarcolemma of the smooth muscle cells. Anti-ecto-apyrase antibody detected a single 80-kDa band (putative apyrase) in Western blots of both chicken gizzard membrane extracts and partially purified anion exchange fractions, but the antibody did not detect ecto-apyrase in immunolabeled gizzard cryosections. In adult chicken stomach, the ecto-apyrase was observed at the apical membrane of the glandular oxyntico-peptic cells as described in previous immunoperoxidase studies ( We also partially purified the ecto-apyrase of chicken stomach, an 80-kDa membrane glycoprotein. Chicken stomach membranes were solubilized in digitonin, glycoproteins were separated from solubilized proteins by lectin chromatography, and nucleotide-binding glycoproteins were selected by immobilized Cibacron blue chromatography. Further purification by size exclusion and anion exchange chromatography yielded purification of 94-fold. The ATPase specific activity of the purified stomach ecto-apyrase was 75,000 mol of P i /mg of protein/h, and the purified preparation consisted of a major band (55% of total protein) at 80 kDa. The purified enzyme could be deglycosylated with peptide N-glycosidase-F to a core molecular mass of 54 kDa. The N-terminal sequence of the 80-kDa stomach ecto-apyrase band (which reacted with anti-ecto-ATPDase antibodies) was determined to be: MEYKGKVVAGLLTATWV. Immunological cross-reactivity data indicate that the stomach 80-kDa protein isolated is an ecto-apyrase and is related to both the chicken liver and oviduct ecto-ATPDase enzymes characterized earlier, as well as to the human lymphoid cell activation antigen, CD39.