v-Src transforms fibroblasts in vitro and causes tumor formation in the animal by tyrosine phosphorylation of critical cellular substrates. Exactly how v-Src interacts with these substrates remains unknown. One of its substrates, the adaptor protein Shc, is thought to play a crucial role during cellular transformation by v-Src by linking v-Src to Ras. We used Shc proteins with mutations in either the phosphotyrosine binding (PTB) or Src homology 2 domain to determine that phosphorylation of Shc in v-Src-expressing cells depends on the presence of a functional PTB domain. We purified a 100-kDa Shc PTB-binding protein from Src-transformed cells that was identified as the beta chain of the low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein LRP1. LRP1 acts as an import receptor for a variety of proteins and is involved in clearance of the beta-amyloid precursor protein. This study shows that LRP1 is tyrosine-phosphorylated in v-Src-transformed cells and that tyrosine-phosphorylated LRP1 binds in vivo and in vitro to Shc. The association between Shc and LRP1 may provide a mechanism for recruitment of Shc to the plasma membrane where it is phosphorylated by v-Src. It is at the membrane that Shc is thought to be involved in Ras activation. These observations further suggest that LRP1 could function as a signaling receptor and may provide new avenues to investigate its possible role during embryonal development and the onset of Alzheimer's disease.