Distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA) is an inherited disease characterized by the failure of the kidneys to appropriately acidify urine and is associated with mutations in the anion exchanger (AE)1 gene. The effect of the R589H dRTA mutation on the expression of the human erythroid AE1 and the truncated kidney form (kAE1) was examined in transfected human embryonic kidney 293 cells. AE1, AE1 R589H, and kAE1 were present at the cell surface, whereas kAE1 R589H was located primarily intracellularly as shown by immunofluorescence, cell surface biotinylation,N-glycosylation, and anion transport assays. Coexpression of kAE1 R589H reduced the cell surface expression of kAE1 and AE1 by a dominant-negative effect, due to heterodimer formation. The mutant AE1 and kAE1 bound to an inhibitor affinity resin, suggesting that they were not grossly misfolded. Other mutations at R589 also prevented the formation of the cell surface form of kAE1, indicating that this conserved arginine residue is important for proper trafficking. The R589H dRTA mutation creates a severe trafficking defect in kAE1 but not in erythroid AE1.