Na؉ ,K ؉ -ATPase (pig ␣1,1) has been expressed in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris. A protease-deficient strain was used, recombinant clones were screened for multicopy genomic integrants, and protein expression, and time and temperature of methanol induction were optimized. A 3-liter culture provides 300 -500 mg of membrane protein with ouabain binding capacity of 30 -50 pmol mg ؊1 . The Na ϩ ,K ϩ -ATPase utilizes the free energy of hydrolysis of ATP to actively transport three intracellular Na ϩ ions and two extracellular K ϩ ions in opposite directions across animal cell membranes. The Na ϩ ,K ϩ -ATPase is a member of the P-type family of cation pumps. The kinetic mechanism of Na ϩ ,K ϩ -ATPase, as of other P-type pumps, involves a phosphoenzyme intermediate and is now largely understood (1, 2). As pointed out by Jencks (3), strict cation and substrate specificities of the phosphorylation and dephosphorylation reactions, and tight coupling of the E 1 7 E 2 conformational changes to cation movements are the essential features of all P-type ion pump mechanisms. These central questions of the energy transduction mechanism of P-type pumps can now be posed in structural terms (4) because of availability of molecular structures of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca 2ϩ -ATPase for both E 1 2Ca 2ϩ and E 2 conformations (5, 6).The Ca 2ϩ -ATPase molecule consists of head, stalk, and membrane sectors (5). There are 10 transmembrane segments in the membrane domain with two Ca 2ϩ ions ligated approximately in the center of the bilayer and between transmembrane segments M4, M5, M6, and M8 in the E 1 2Ca 2ϩ conformation. The stalk sector consists of the cytoplasmic extensions of the transmembrane helices, particularly S5 and S4. The cytoplasmic sector consists of three domains, nucleotide binding (N), 1 phosphorylating (P), and anchor or actuator domain (A). Comparison of the crystal structure an E 1 2Ca2ϩ and E 2 conformations shows that in the E 1 conformations the N, P, and A domains are separate, whereas in E 2 conformations the domains are gathered together, moving essentially as rigid bodies (5, 6). Movement of the A domain toward P and N domains in the E 1 3 E 2 transition is associated with a bending of S5 that entails complex movements of several transmembrane segments. This changes the ligation of the occluded Ca 2ϩ ions within the transmembrane segments allowing them to dissociate within the sarcoplasmic reticulum. Whereas this general paradigm clearly applies to the other P-type pumps, not all features are explained by the crystal structures. As one example, phosphorylation by ATP requires close proximity of the nucleotide binding N and phosphorylation P domains, but this is not observed in the E 1 2Ca 2ϩ (Protein Data Bank code 1EUL) structure. In addition, of course, there are the specific features of other ion pumps particularly the cation selectivities,