-Angiotensin II (ANG II) increases thiazide-sensitive sodium-chloride cotransporter (NCC) activity both acutely and chronically. ANG II has been implicated as a switch that turns WNK4 from an inhibitor of NCC into an activator of NCC, and ANG II's effect on NCC appears to require WNK4. Chronically, ANG II stimulation of NCC results in an increase in total and phosphorylated NCC, but the role of NCC phosphorylation in acute ANG II actions is unclear. Here, using a mammalian cell model with robust native NCC activity, we corroborate the role that ANG II plays in WNK4 regulation and clarify the role of Ste20-related proline alanine-rich kinase (SPAK)-induced NCC phosphorylation in ANG II action. ANG II was noted to have a biphasic effect on NCC, with a peak increase in NCC activity in the physiologic range of 10 Ϫ11 M ANG II. This effect was apparent as early as 15 min and remained sustained through 120 min. These changes correlated with significant increases in NCC surface protein expression. Knockdown of WNK4 expression sharply attenuated the effect of ANG II. SPAK knockdown did not affect ANG II action at early time points (15 and 30 min), but it did attenuate the response at 60 min. Correspondingly, NCC phosphorylation did not increase at 15 or 30 min, but increased significantly at 60 min. We therefore conclude that within minutes of an increase in ANG II, NCC is rapidly trafficked to the cell surface in a phosphorylation-independent but WNK4-dependent manner. Then, after 60 min, ANG II induces SPAK-dependent phosphorylation of NCC.thiazide-sensitive sodium-chloride cotransporter; distal convoluted tubule; WNK4 expression THE THIAZIDE-SENSITIVE sodium-chloride cotransporter (NCC) is the salt-reabsorptive pathway localized to the apical membrane of the mammalian distal convoluted tubule (DCT) that is responsible for reabsorbing 5-10% of the filtered load of sodium (9). Now, almost 60 years after the introduction of the first thiazide diuretic (8), pharmacological inhibition of NCC by thiazide diuretics is recommended as first line treatment for essential hypertension (6). NCC has also been shown to play a role in genetic disorders of hypotension and hypertension (7,18,27,33,34).Over the last decade it has become clear that the reninangiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) is the primary physiological regulator of NCC. First reported were the actions of aldosterone on NCC. Chronic aldosterone exposure (3-8 days) increases total and phosphorylated NCC and results in an increase in thiazide-sensitive sodium reabsorption (14,20,32).Acute aldosterone (12-36 h) stimulation, by contrast, increases NCC activity and phosphorylation without a change in total NCC (16). More recently, the effects of ANG II on the cotransporter have been described. ANG II has been implicated as a switch that turns WNK4 [With-No-Lysine (K) 4] from an inhibitor of NCC into an activator of NCC (4, 5, 25). Additionally, ANG II's effect on NCC appears to require WNK4. This dependence of ANG II's effects on WNK4 has been investigated chronically wit...