The sensitivity of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase to Na was determined in single segments of rabbit nephron isolated by microdissection. In the cortical collecting tubule (CCT), Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase was threefold more sensitive to Na (apparent K0.5 approximately 3 mM) than in proximal convoluted tubule and cortical thick ascending limb (apparent K0.5 approximately 10 mM). Furthermore, increasing K concentration from 5 to greater than 100 mM markedly reduced the affinity of the pump for Na in all three nephron segments. In fact, the main shift in Na affinity occurred when K changed from 100 to 120 mM; in the CCT, increasing K concentration from 100 to 120 mM while maintaining Na concentration at 10 mM reduced Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity by greater than 35%. These findings confirm that, in kidney cells as in other cells, intracellular Na limits the rate of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase. Thus any alteration of intracellular Na concentration modifies the pump activity in a way that contributes to the restoration of intracellular Na homeostasis. This adaptive property is particularly efficient in the collecting tubule in which the apparent K0.5 of the pump for Na is close to normal intracellular Na concentration. Furthermore, changes in intracellular K concentration, which usually accompany those of Na so as to maintain the total cation concentration constant, potentiate the regulatory role of Na through modifications of its affinity for the pump.