The sodium pump or Na,K-ATPase, maintains the Na ÷ and K" gradients across eukaryotic cell membranes at the expense of ATP. Incubation of purified canine renal Na,K-ATPase with 4-acetamido-4'-isothioeyanatostilbene.2,2'-disulfoni¢ acid (SITS) inhibited tile ATPase activity. Both the labeling of the protein and the loss of ATPase acti~,ity were prevented by co-incubation with ADP (acting as an ATP analog) or KCI, Only the a-subunit was labeled by SITS, The ~t.subunit fi'om ll~e inhibited ellzymc was extensively digested with trypsin, and SITS-labeled peptides were purified by reverse-phase HPLC and sequenced. The amino ~tcid sequence determined, His-Leu-Leu-Val-Met-X-Gly-Ala-Pro-Glu, indicated tlmt SITS modifies Lys-501 (X) on the ct-subunit of Na,K-ATPase.