Identification of the Na/K-ATPase interacting proteins

Na,K-ATPase needs to interact with neighboring membrane proteins and organized cytosolic cascades of signaling complexes to function as a signal transducer. The identities of these interacting proteins and the nature of their association with the sodium pump have yet to be elucidated. Some studies have shown that the nucleotide binding domain 1 (ND1) of Na, K-ATPase alpha 1 subunit play an important role when Na,K-ATPase interacts with other proteins. In an attempt to identify novel proteins that can interact with Na,K-ATPase, we used the ND1 domain of sodium pump alpha1 subunit as a bait to perform a yeast two hybrid screen in a human kidney cDNA library. We have obtained several cDNA clones encoding the potential Na,K-ATPase alpha 1 subunit binding proteins. How these proteins interact with Na,K-ATPase and play a role in Na,K-ATPase mediated signal transduction needs further investigation.