Spectrin is a ubiquitous heterodimeric scaffolding protein that stabilizes membranes and organizes protein and lipid microdomains on both the plasma membrane and intracellular organelles. Phosphorylation of -spectrin on Ser/Thr is well recognized. Less clear is whether ␣-spectrin is phosphorylated in vivo and whether spectrin is phosphorylated on tyrosine (pTyr). We affirmatively answer both questions. In cultured Madin-Darby canine kidney cells, ␣II spectrin undergoes in vivo tyrosine phosphorylation. Enhancement of the steady state level of pTyr-modified ␣II spectrin by vanadate, a phosphatase inhibitor, implies a dynamic balance between ␣II spectrin phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. Recombinant peptides containing the Src homology 3 domain of ␣II spectrin (but not the Src homology 3 domain of ␣I spectrin) bind specifically to phosphorylated c-Src in Madin-Darby canine kidney cell lysates, suggesting that this kinase is responsible for its in vivo phosphorylation. pTyr-modified ␣II spectrin is resistant to maitotoxin-induced cleavage by -calpain in vivo. In vitro studies of recombinant ␣II spectrin peptides representing repeats 9 -12 identify two sites of pTyr modification. The first site is at Tyr 1073 , a residue immediately adjacent to a region encoded by alternative exon usage (insert 1). The second site is at Tyr 1176 . This residue flanks the major site of cleavage by the calciumdependent protease calpain, and phosphorylation of Tyr 1176 by c-Src reduces the susceptibility of ␣II spectrin to cleavage by -calpain. Calpain cleavage of spectrin, activated by Ca 2؉ and calmodulin, contributes to diverse cellular processes including synaptic remodeling, receptor-mediated endocytosis, apoptosis, and the response of the renal epithelial cell to ischemic injury. Tyrosine phosphorylation of ␣II spectrin now would appear to also mediate these events. The spectrin skeleton thus forms a point of convergence between kinase/phosphatase and Ca 2؉ -mediated signaling cascades.