We have mapped the membrane topology of the renal Na,K-ATPase ␣-subunit by using a combination of introduced cysteine mutants and surface labeling with a membrane impermeable Cys-directed reagent, N-biotinylaminoethyl methanethiosulfonate. To begin our investigation, two cysteine residues (Cys 911 and Cys 964 ) in the wild-type ␣-subunit were substituted to create a background mutant devoid of exposed cysteines (Lutsenko, S., Daoud, S., and Kaplan, J. H. (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272, 5249 -5255). Into this background construct were then introduced single cysteines in each of the five putative extracellular loops (P118C, T309C, L793C, L876C, and M973C) and the resulting ␣-subunit mutants were co-expressed with the -subunit in baculovirusinfected insect cells. All of our expressed Na,K-ATPase mutants were functionally active. Their ATPase, phosphorylation, and ouabain binding activities were measured, and the turnover of the phosphoenzyme intermediate was close to the wild-type enzyme, suggesting that they are folded properly in the infected cells. Incubation of the insect cells with the cysteine-selective reagent revealed essentially no labeling of the ␣-subunit of the background construct and labeling of all five mutants with single cysteine residues in putative extracellular loops. Two additional mutants, V969C and L976C, were created to further define the M9M10 loop. The lack of labeling for these two mutants showed that although Met 973 is apparently exposed, Val 969 and Leu 976 are not, demonstrating that this method may also be utilized to define membrane aqueous boundaries of membrane proteins. Our labeling studies are consistent with a specific 10-transmembrane segment model of the Na,KATPase ␣-subunit. This strategy utilized only functional Na,K-ATPase mutants to establish the membrane topology of the entire ␣-subunit, in contrast to most previously applied methods. Na,K-ATPase (sodium pump) is an integral membrane protein that is present in most animal cells. The enzyme consists of two subunits, a large catalytic ␣-subunit (about 110 kDa) and a glycosylated -subunit (ϳ55 kDa); both subunits are required for enzymatic activity (1-3). Na,K-ATPase utilizes the energy derived from ATP hydrolysis to transport Na ϩ and K ϩ ions across plasma membranes against their electrochemical gradients and is a member of the P 2 -ATPase family (4). The ion gradients generated by the sodium pump are important for regulating a variety of physiological functions such as cell excitability, contractility, and secondary active transport. Several isoforms of the ␣-and -subunits have been cloned from various species, and the primary sequences have been described (5). The secondary structural information on the protein, on the other hand, remains controversial despite extensive investigation; such information is essential for understanding structure/function relationships of the Na,K-ATPase. Based on hydropathy analysis (6), protease accessibility (7, 8), and immunochemical studies (9, 10), the amino-terminal third of the ␣-subun...