A G-protein ␥ subunit (G␥)-responsive phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) was purified approximately 5000-fold from pig platelet cytosol. The enzyme was purified by polyethylene glycol precipitation of the cytosol followed by column chromatography on Q-Sepharose fast flow, gel filtration, heparin-Sepharose, and hydroxyapatite. The major G␥-responsive PI 3-kinase is distinct from p85 containing PI 3-kinase as the activities can be distinguished chromatographically and immunologically and is related to p110␥ as it crossreacts with anti-p110␥-specific antibodies. The p110␥-related PI 3-kinase cannot be activated by G-protein ␣ i/o subunits, and it has an apparent native molecular mass of 210 kDa. The p110␥-related PI 3-kinase phosphorylates phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns), phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PtdIns4P), and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P 2 ). The apparent K m values for ATP were found to be 25 M with PtdIns, 44 M with PtdIns4P, and 37 M with PtdIns(4,5)P 2 as the substrate. G␥ subunits did not alter the K m of the enzyme for ATP; however, V max increased 2-fold with PtdIns as substrate, 3.5-fold with PtdIns4P, and 10-fold with PtdIns(4,5)P 2 . Under basal conditions the apparent K m values for lipid substrates were 64, 10, and 15 M for PtdIns, PtdIns4P, and PtdIns(4,5)P 2 , respectively. In the presence of G␥ subunits the dependence of PI 3-kinase activity on the concentrations of lipid substrates became complex with the highest level of stimulation occurring at high substrate concentration, suggesting that the binding of G␥ and lipid substrate (particularly PtdIns(4,5)P 2 ) may be mutually cooperative. Wortmannin and LY294002 inhibit the G␥-responsive PI 3-kinase activity with IC 50 values of 10 nM and 2 M, respectively. Unlike the p85 containing PI 3-kinase in platelets, the p110␥-related PI 3-kinase is not associated with a PtdIns(3,4,5)P 3 specific 5-phosphatase.The p85-associated PI 3-kinase was not activated by G␥ alone but could be synergistically activated by G␥ and phosphotyrosyl platelet-derived growth factor receptor peptides. This may represent a form of coincidence detection through which the effects of tyrosine kinase and G-protein-linked receptors might be coordinated.Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI 3-kinases, 1 EC 2.7.1.137) phosphorylate the D-3 position of the inositol ring in inositol phospholipids and were originally identified through their association with viral oncoproteins and activated tyrosine kinases (1, 2). Receptor-regulated forms of PI 3-kinase appear to prefer to phosphorylate phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P 2 ) in vivo (3-5). The product of this reaction, phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate (PtdIns(3,4,5)P 3 ), is a candidate second messenger that regulates a variety of cellular responses to growth factors perhaps through the activation of serine/threonine protein kinases such as Akt/PKB and/or certain protein kinase C isoforms and small GTP-binding proteins such as Rac 1 (6 -10).The first form of PI 3-kinase to be...