Treatment of quiescent Swiss 3T3 cells with the mitogenic peptides bombesin, vasopressin, endothelin/vasoactive intestinal contractor (VIC), and bradykinin strikingly increased the initial rate of tyrosine phosphorylation measured in anti-phosphotyrosine immunoprecipitates of a major band of Mr 115,000 (p115) and two minor components of Mr 90,000 and 75,000. Neuropeptides increased the labeling of p115 within seconds and with great potency; half-maximum concentrations were 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 nM for bombesin, vasopressin, and VIC, respectively. Immunoblotting and peptide mapping showed that the p115 band phosphorylated in anti-phosphotyrosine immunoprecipitates is identical to a major Mr 115,000 substrate for neuropeptide-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation in intact Swiss 3T3 cells. Furthermore, bombesin, vasopressin, and VIC markedly increased the rate of phosphorylation of Raytide, a broad specificity tyrosine kinase peptide substrate, by decreasing (8 +/- 1.3-fold) the apparent Km of the kinase for the substrate. Phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate and the Ca2+ ionophore A23187 had a weaker effect on tyrosine protein kinase activity in immune complexes compared with bombesin. Furthermore, down-regulation of protein kinase C blocked the small effect of phorbol esters but did not impair bombesin-stimulated tyrosine kinase activity. These results provide direct evidence for neuropeptide activation of a tyrosine kinase in cell-free preparations and identify a novel event in the action of this class of growth factors in Swiss 3T3 cells.