The widely expressed anion exchanger polypeptide AE2/SLC4A2 is acutely inhibited by acidic intracellular (pHi), by acidic extracellular pH (pHo), and by the calmodulin inhibitor, calmidazolium, whereas it is acutely activated by NH4+. The homologous erythroid/kidney AE1/SLC4A1 polypeptide is insensitive to these regulators. Each of these AE2 regulatory responses requires the presence of AE2's C-terminal transmembrane domain (TMD). We have now measured 36Cl- efflux from Xenopus oocytes expressing bi- or tripartite AE2/AE1 chimeras to define TMD subregions in which AE2-specific sequences contribute to acute regulation. The chimeric AE polypeptides were all functional at pHo 7.4, with the sole exception of AE2(1-920)/AE1(613-811)/AE2(1120-1237). Reciprocal exchanges of the large third extracellular loops were without effect. AE2 regulation by pHi, pHo, and NH4+ was retained after substitution of C-terminal AE2 aa 1120-1237 (including the putative second re-entrant loop, two TM spans, and the cytoplasmic tail) with the corresponding AE1 sequence. In contrast, the presence of this AE2 C-terminal sequence was both necessary and sufficient for inhibition by calmidazolium. All other tested TMD substitutions abolished AE2 pHi-sensitivity, abolished or severely attenuated sensitivity to pHo, and removed sensitivity to NH4+. Loss of AE2 pHi-sensitivity was not rescued by coexpression of complementary AE2 sequence within separate full-length chimeras or AE2 subdomains. Thus normal regulation of AE2 by pH and other ligands requires AE2-specific sequence from most regions of the AE2 TMD, with the exceptions of the third extracellular loop and a short C-terminal sequence. We conclude that the individual TMD amino acid residues previously identified as influencing acute regulation of AE2 exert that influence within a regulatory structure requiring essential contributions from multiple regions of the AE2 TMD.