Recent reports indicate that alpha 1-Na,K-ATPase from Dahl salt-sensitive (DS) rats contains a glutamine for leucine substitution associated with increased Na-K coupling at unchanged maximal velocity. Genetic analyses suggest that alpha 1-Na,K-ATPase is a potential hypertension gene. Therefore, we investigated whether renal Na+ metabolism could constitute a pathophysiological link between the molecular/functional change in Na,K-ATPase and hypertension. We simulated the consequences of increased Na-K coupling on overall Na-bicarbonate reabsorption in a proximal tubular transport model that incorporates apical Na-H exchanger and basolateral Na-bicarbonate cotransporter, K+ channel, and Na,K-ATPase. As expected, increases in the levels of the former three transport pathways yielded higher Na+ reabsorption. In contrast, increases in the maximal velocity of the Na,K-ATPase with a normal 3:2 (Na-K) coupling ratio did not increase Na+ reabsorption when apical Na-H exchange activity was limiting overall absorption. However, an increase in the Na-K coupling from 3:2 to 3:1, reported for the mutant alpha 1-Na,K-ATPase in DS rats, was associated with greater Na+ reabsorption. This increase is a consequence of lower cytosolic pH and secondary stimulation of the Na-H exchanger at its allosteric H+ site. Decreased pH results from activation of Na-bicarbonate cotransport by Na,K-ATPase-dependent membrane hyperpolarization due to greater charge movement in 3:1 Na-K coupling. Thus, an increase in the Na-K coupling ratio results in an altered set point for cellular Na+ metabolism, with higher sodium reabsorption at unchanged Na,K-ATPase levels. The simulations thereby lend support for a unifying explanation for the salt sensitivity of DS rats, which has been proposed to stem from a mutation in the alpha 1-Na,K-ATPase.