Site-specific mutagenesis was used to study the function of a conserved, extracellular aspartic acid residue from the sheep Na,K-ATPase alpha subunit. This amino acid, Asp-121, is the penultimate residue of the first extracellular domain of the alpha subunit. The border residues of this particular extracellular loop of the alpha subunit have been shown to be determinants of ouabain sensitivity (Price, E. M., and Lingrel, J. B. (1988) Biochemistry 27, 8400-8408). In order to determine if Asp-121 is involved in ouabain binding, five different amino acid substitutions at this position were generated. Four of the five mutant alpha subunits, containing either Asn, Ala, Glu, or Ser in place of Asp-121, conferred ouabain resistance to HeLa cells when expressed in those cells. Cloned sublines of cells selected in ouabain were characterized in terms of ouabain-inhibitable cell growth and Na,K-ATPase activity. The cells expressing the mutant Na,K-ATPase alpha subunit containing either Asn, Ala, Glu, or Ser in place of Asp-121 contained a component of Na,K-ATPase activity that was nearly 100-times more resistant to ouabain than the endogenous HeLa (human) or sheep enzyme. Apparently, conservative (Glu for Asp), isosteric (Asn for Asp), and nonconservative (Ala or Ser for Asp) substitutions all significantly decreased ouabain sensitivity. These data suggest that Asp-121 of the sheep Na,K-ATPase alpha subunit participates in the binding interaction between the enzyme and ouabain.