Tyrosine residues have been identified in the human platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor beta-subunit whose phosphorylation is stimulated by PDGF. These sites are also in vitro autophosphorylation sites. There are a total of three phosphorylation sites in the kinase insert region, tyrosines 740, 751 and 771. Mutagenesis studies show that Tyr740 and 751 are involved in the PDGF-stimulated binding of phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3 kinase, and Tyr771 is required for efficient binding of GAP, the GTPase activator of Ras. The requirement for Tyr751 is only detected at low PDGF receptor levels, suggesting that it increases the affinity of binding of PI3 kinase but is not absolutely required. Small deletions in the kinase insert only 10 residues from Tyr740 and Tyr771 do not significantly reduce binding of PI3 kinase or GAP, indicating that distant sequences are probably unimportant for recognition. The data suggest that the receptor signals to different pathways via different phosphorylated tyrosines, and that certain proteins, such as PI3 kinase, can recognize two phosphorylated tyrosines in a single receptor.