The Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cell line was used to evaluate the influence of high extracellular K+, independent of hormonal effects, on renal Na-K-adenosinetriphosphatase (ATPase) activity and abundance. Confluent cell monolayers were incubated in control (5 mM) or high K+ (7.5 mM) medium for 24 h. Exposure to high K+ elicited a 46% rise in Na-K-ATPase activity and a 55% increase in ouabain-sensitive 86Rb uptake. Na-K-ATPase abundance, estimated from the number of ouabain-binding sites, also increased 63% over control in cells exposed to 7.5 mM K+, and as a consequence there was no statistically significant change in the catalytic turnover number. Northern blot analysis using rat cDNA probes for the alpha 1- and beta-subunits showed no corresponding changes in subunit-specific mRNA abundances at 24 h. We conclude that chronic exposure to high extracellular K+ produces a rise in renal epithelial Na-K-ATPase activity and active K+ transport, independent of changes in aldosterone, renal blood flow, or extracellular Na+ concentration. This effect is due to an increase in enzyme abundance rather than a change in catalytic turnover rate. The results of Northern analysis suggest that regulation of Na-K-ATPase activity and abundance by high K+ may involve translational or posttranslational mechanisms, but further study with cDNA probes of canine origin is needed to resolve this issue.