The activity of epithelial Na(+) selective channels is modulated by various factors, with growing evidence that membrane lipids also participate in the regulation. In the present study, Triton X-100 extracts of whole cells and of apical membrane-enriched preparations from cultured A6 renal epithelial cells were floated on continuous-sucrose-density gradients. Na(+) channel protein, probed by immunostaining of Western blots, was detected in the high-density fractions of the gradients (between 18 and 30% sucrose), which contain the detergent-soluble material but also in the lighter, detergent-resistant 16% sucrose fraction. Single amiloride-sensitive Na(+) channel activity, recorded after incorporation of reconstituted proteoliposomes into lipid bilayers, was exclusively localized in the 16% sucrose fraction. In accordance with other studies, high- and low-density fractions of sucrose gradients likely represent membrane domains with different lipid contents. However, exposure of the cells to cholesterol-depleting or sphingomyelin-depleting agents did not affect transepithelial Na(+) current, single-Na(+) channel activity, or the expression of Na(+) channel protein. This is the first reconstitution study of native epithelial Na(+) channels, which suggests that functional channels are compartmentalized in discrete domains within the plane of the apical cell membrane.