The cell surface molecule CD2 has a signaling role in the activation of T lymphocytes and natural killer cells. Because perturbation of CD2 leads to the appearance of tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins, we investigated the possibility that CD2 associates with cytoplasmic protein tyrosine kinases. As determined by in vitro kinase assays and phosphoamino acid analysis, protein tyrosine kinase activity coprecipitated with CD2 from rat T lymphocytes, T lymphoblasts, thymocytes, interleukin-2-activated natural killer cells, and RNK-16 cells (a rat natural killer cell line). In each case, both p56kk and p590' were identified in the CD2 immunoprecipitate. In the thymus, the association between CD2 and these kinases occurred predominately in a small subset of thymocytes that had the cell surface phenotype of mature T cells, indicating that the association is a regulated event and occurs late in T-cell ontogeny. The finding that CD2 is associated with p56kk and p590f in detergent lysates suggests that interactions with these Src-like protein kinases play a critical role in CD2-mediated signal transduction.CD2, a 55-kDa cell surface glycoprotein, has both adhesion and signaling functions in the activation of T lymphocytes and natural killer (NK) cells (18,30,31). Perturbation of CD2 by the combination of its natural ligand (LFA-3) and certain monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) provides a potent stimulus for T-cell activation, triggering proliferative responses comparable to those elicited by either mitogenic lectins or MAbs to the T-cell receptor (TCR)-CD3 complex (18,31). CD2 also has the capacity to activate NK cells, as evidenced by the ability of CD2 MAbs to stimulate lysis of NK cell-resistant targets (30).The mechanism by which CD2 couples to signal transduction pathways is uncertain. As with the TCR-CD3 complex, appropriate stimulation of CD2 induces tyrosine phosphorylations and stimulates phosphatidylinositol turnover (3,17,20,23). These CD2-induced signaling responses depend on the cytoplasmic domain of CD2, which is relatively large (117 amino acids) and highly conserved among humans, rats, and mice (10,16,(26)(27)(28)38). CD2-mediated signaling also requires coexpression of molecules that are restricted in their tissue expression (2, 13, 16). CD2, for example, does not signal when it is expressed in fibroblasts by gene transfer (13, 16). One apparent requirement for CD2-mediated signaling is the coexpression of receptors that contain members of the CD3 (-chain family (19). Thus, CD2 cannot signal in T-cell mutants that lack TCR-CD3 but is functional in NK cells, which express ; in association with CD16, and signals when transfected into mast cells, which express the c-related y chain in association with the FcE receptor (1,4,6,19,35). The molecular basis by which (-chain expression permits CD2 to signal remains uncertain.Recent studies of lymphocyte activation have focused on the role played by the Src-like protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) in coupling cell surface receptors to signaling path-* Corresponding author.ways...