Papillomavirus E6 proteins are adapters that change the function of cellular regulatory proteins. The bovine papillomavirus type 1 E6 (BE6) binds to LXXLL peptide sequences termed LD motifs (consensus sequence LDXLLXXL) on the cellular protein paxillin that is a substrate of Src and focal adhesion kinases. Anchorageindependent transformation induced by BE6 required both paxillin and BE6-binding LD motifs on paxillin but was independent of the major tyrosine phosphorylation sites of paxillin. The essential role of paxillin in transformation by BE6 highlights the role of paxillin in the transduction of cellular signals that result in anchorage-independent cell proliferation.Anogenital type human papillomavirus (HPV) E6 oncoproteins and E6 from bovine papillomavirus type 1 (BE6) interact with cellular proteins by binding to an eight-amino-acid peptide displayed on the target protein (XLXXLLXX, abbreviated LXXLL here) (3,7,10,30); this interaction is required for cellular transformation by BE6 (1, 30). While anogenital HPV E6 proteins bind to a LXXLL motif on the ubiquitin ligase E6AP, BE6 binds to LXXLL motifs found on the cellular adapter protein paxillin, while HPV-16 E6 binds paxillin poorly (26,30).Paxillin was first identified as a hyperphosphorylated protein in Src transformed cells. It localizes to focal adhesions and associates with focal adhesion proteins implicated in the regulation of cell attachment, spreading, and migration, including focal adhesion kinase (FAK), GIT1, PAK, Src, and Crk (reviewed in reference 6 and illustrated in Fig. 1). Paxillin tyrosine phosphorylation sites bind to the SH2-containing proteins Src (at Y31) and CRKL (at Y118). Paxillin also contains five copies of a peptide motif termed LD1 through LD5 (consensus LXXLLXXL) that serve as binding sites for cellular proteins; LD1 interacts with acropaxin and ILK (16, 17), LD2 interacts with FAK and vinculin, LD4 interacts with GIT1 and FAK (29), and the LD3 and LD5 interaction partners remain uncharacterized, although LD5 is functionally required to support FAK tyrosine phosphorylation in embryonic stem (ES) cells (32). LD motifs also bind the BE6 oncoprotein (26, 30). The carboxy terminus of paxillin contains four LIM domains: LIM2 and -3 localize paxillin to focal adhesions (5, 32), and LIM1, -2, and -3 support the tyrosine phosphorylation of FAK in ES cells (32). LIM4 interacts with the tyrosine phosphatase PTP-PEST (8, 21).Paxillin regulates focal adhesion turnover, since cells from which paxillin has been deleted or that express paxillin mutants have delayed focal adhesion turnover and cell migration (33, 34), and paxillin has been shown to influence the activity of proteins, including the Rho family of small GTP-binding proteins that are involved in regulating actin dynamics (reviewed in references 19 and 35). HIC-5 is a paxillin family member that is highly similar to paxillin but differs in its binding to FAK and GIT proteins and is differentially expressed in differentiated tissues and in response to morphogenic signaling (14,...