Gab-1 (Grb2-associated binder-1), which appears to play a central role in cellular growth response, transformation, and apoptosis, is a member of the insulin receptor substrate (IRS) family. IRS proteins act downstream in the signaling pathways of different receptor tyrosine kinases, including the insulin receptor (IR). In this paper, we characterize the phosphorylation of recombinant human Gab-1 (hGab-1) by IR in vitro. Kinetic phosphorylation data revealed that hGab-1 is a high affinity substrate for the IR (K_M:  12.0 μM for native IR vs 23.3 μM for recombinant IR). To elucidate the IR-specific phosphorylation pattern of hGab-1, we used phosphopeptide mapping by two-dimensional HPLC analysis. Phosphorylated tyrosine residues were subsequently identified by sequencing the separated phosphopeptides by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) and Edman degradation. Our results demonstrate that hGab-1 was phosphorylated by IR at eight tyrosine residues (Y242, Y285, Y373, Y447, Y472, Y619, Y657, and Y689). Seventy-five percent of the identified radioactivity was incorporated into tyrosine residues Y447, Y472, and Y619 exhibiting features (NYVPM motif) of potential binding sites for the regulatory subunit (p85) of phosphatidylinositol (PI)-3 kinase. Accordingly, pull down assays with human HepG2 cell lysates showed that IR-specific phosphorylation of wild-type hGab-1 strongly enhanced PI-3 kinase binding. This is still the case when a single tyrosine residue in the NYVPM motif was mutated to phenylalanine. In contrast, phosphorylation-dependent binding of PI-3 kinase was completely abolished by changing a second tyrosine residue in a NYVPM motif independent from its location. Recently, we identified a similar cohort of tyrosine phosphorylation sites for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) with a predominant phosphorylation of tyrosine residue Y657 and binding of Syp [Lehr, S. et al. (1999) Biochemistry 38, 151−159]. These differences in the phosphorylation pattern of hGab-1 may contribute to signaling specificity by different tyrosine kinase receptors engaging distinct SH2 signaling molecules.