To examine the potential effect of the cellular ATP concentration and of the phosphate potential on the function of the sodium pump in intact renal cells, the ATP content of dog cortical tubules was first modified by a 30-min preincubation with one of the following effectors: 5 or 10 mM fructose, 2.5 mM adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP), or 2.5 mM adenosine in the presence of substrates (10 mM glutamine + 1 mM glutamate with either 10 mM lactate (low ATP) or 10 mM pyruvate (high ATP)). The tubules were then incubated in Krebs-Henseleit saline using two different phosphate concentrations and the same substrate mixture. The ATP content in tubular cells was modified by these treatments, ranging from 2.2 to 5.7 mM. The oxygen uptake by the tubules was measured before and after application of a small amount of nystatin (0.05 mM, 6 mumol/g wet wt.), added to impose an identical and submaximal increment of work to the Na(+)-K+ ATPase in tubules, irrespective of their ATP condition. This manoeuvre was followed by the addition of 1 mM ouabain to inhibit the sodium pump and quantify the respiration related to the activity of the Na+ pump. No significant effect of the ATP content on the respiratory cost of the Na(+)-K+ ATPase activity was noted when the [ATP] was above the normal concentration of approximately 3.0 mM before or after introduction of nystatin. In a second group of experiments, tubules were treated with 0.1 mM digitonin (13 mumol/g wet wt.) and resuspended in intracellular-like and sodium-free medium. The respiration was measured before and after the addition of increasing Mg-ATP concentrations (0-12 mM). A fixed quantity of Na+ (20 mM) was then introduced before ouabain was applied. The oxygen uptake was measured in these three conditions. We observed a fixed increment of ouabain-sensitive respiration upon stimulation of the pump activity by sodium at ATP concentrations ranging from 2 to 7 mM. The same observation applied when the free energy released from ATP hydrolysis ranged from -50 to -56 kJ.mol-1 and when the [ATP]/[ADP].[Pi] ratio ranged from 1.5 to 7.5 mM-1. These results suggest that the Na+:ATP stoichiometry of the Na(+)-K+ ATPase is not modified by [ATP] in dog cortical tubules when the ATP content is at or above the physiological value. Furthermore, the stoichiometry of the pump does not appear to change when the phosphate potential and (or) the free energy released from ATP hydrolysis are altered.