T lymphocytes express a tyrosine protein kinase (TPK; protein-tyrosine kinase; ATP:protein-tyrosine O-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.112), pp56lck that is encoded by the lck protooncogene. This TPK was recently found to be associated with the intracellular domain of the T-cell surface glycoproteins, CD4 and CD8, suggesting that it plays an important role in T-cell development and activation. We have studied the regulation of pp56lck and found that this kinase can be rapidly activated by an endogenous mechanism present in T-lymphocyte membranes. This activation was sensitive to sodium orthovanadate and O-phosphotyrosine, consistent with the involvement of a phosphotyrosine phosphatase (PTPase; protein-tyrosine-phosphatase; protein-tyrosine-phosphate phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.48) in pp56lck activation. Based on a recent report demonstrating that CD45, the leukocyte common antigen, is a membrane-bound PTPase, we analyzed its role in pp56lck activation. CD45 was found to be the major (greater than 90%) PTPase in membranes of the murine T-lymphoma line BW5147. Moreover, activation of pp56lck was undetectable in a mutant BW5147 line lacking CD45 expression (and the associated PTPase activity). In contrast, activation of pp56lck was readily detected in the wild-type lymphoma line. More important, when immunoprecipitated CD45 was added to pp56lck, the TPK activity of the latter increased greater than 2-fold within minutes. This effect of CD45 was completely blocked by sodium orthovanadate. These findings indicate an important role for the CD45 PTPase in pp56lck activation. This role could be mediated by direct dephosphorylation of a regulatory tyrosine residue in pp56lck.