Differential phosphorylation of a 57-KDa protein tyrosine kinase during egg activation.

Fertilization results in activation of many protein kinases which function during egg activation. We have used metabolic labelling and immunoprecipitation to study changes in the phosphorylation state of a 57-KDa src-family protein tyrosine kinase during fertilization of the sea urchin egg. The kinase was phosphorylated on serine at all periods studied but it was also phosphorylated transiently on tyrosine at 5 minutes post insemination and then on threonine at 90 minutes after fertilization. These data indicate that the 57-KDa PTK may be under complex regulatory control during the first cell cycle.