Interleukin-2 (IL-2) stimulates proliferation of T lymphocytes and is involved in the activation of both natural killer and lymphokine-activated killer precursor cells. The intracellular messengers which mediate IL-2-dependent events have not yet been identified. IL-2 receptor is not a protein-tyrosine kinase. Activation of a cellular protein-tyrosine kinase and direct association of a protein-tyrosine kinase activity with the IL-2 receptor occurs within minutes of IL-2 stimulation. We investigated the activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) in IL-2-mediated signal transduction using the IL-2-dependent murine T-cell line, CTLL-2, and human phytohemagglutinin-stimulated peripheral blood lymphocytes (phytohemagglutinin blasts). Within a minute following stimulation of these cells with IL-2, PI 3-kinase activity could be detected in antiphosphotyrosine (anti-P-Tyr) antibody immunoprecipitates. IL-2 triggered a direct association of PI 3-kinase with the IL-2 receptor as detected in immunoprecipitates using anti-IL-2 receptor beta chain antibody. In vivo labeled CTLL-2 cells have a time-dependent increase in D-3-phosphorylated polyphosphoinositides following stimulation with IL-2. This is the first group of second messengers identified in IL-2-mediated signal transduction.