Amino acids N886-A911 of the rat Na+-K+-ATPase alpha3-subunit were replaced by the corresponding region (Q905-V930) of the rat gastric H+-K+-ATPase alpha-subunit. The chimera (NGH26) was expressed in yeast with the rat Na+-K+ -ATPase beta1-subunit (rbeta1), the rat H+-K+-ATPase beta-subunit (HKbeta), the chimeric beta-subunit NHbeta1 (containing the carboxy-terminal ectodomain of HKbeta), or the chimeric beta-subunit HNbeta1 (containing the carboxy-terminal ectodomain of rbeta1). Increased resistance to trypsin digestion indicated that NGH26 preferentially assembled with HKbeta and NHbeta1 rather than with rbeta1 or HNbeta1. Ouabain binding also indicated that more functional complexes were assembled when NGH26 was expressed with HKbeta or NHbeta1. These results suggest that the sequence Q905-V930 interacts with the HKbeta-subunit on the extracellular side of the cell membrane. The NGH26 + HKbeta complex is less stable than alpha3 + HKbeta when heated and also has a lower binding affinity for ouabain [dissociation constant (Kd) = 63 nM] compared with alpha3 + rbeta1 or alpha3 + HKbeta (K(d) = 5-10 nM). In contrast, the NGH26+NHbeta1 complex is thermally as stable as alpha3 + rbeta1 complexes, and its ouabain binding affinity (K(d) = 10 nM) is the same as the wild type. These results indicate that the amino acids Q905-V930 of the rat gastric H+-K+-ATPase alpha-subunit preferentially associate with the extracellular domain of H+-K+-ATPase beta-subunit to form functional pump complexes and that the cytoplasmic and/or transmembrane region of the beta-subunit influences the stability of the alpha beta complexes.