Tyrosine kinases are expressed in many tissues, particularly in the central nervous system, and regulate various cellular functions. We report here that a src family tyrosine kinase-specific inhibitor, PP2, enhances neurotransmitter release from PC12 cells and primary cultured neurons. PP2 enhances only Ca 2؉ -dependent release; it does not affect basal release. These effects result from an enhancement of vesicular exocytosis and not from the reuptake or refilling of neurotransmitters because Ca 2؉ -dependent secretion of an exogenously expressed reporter protein, the human growth hormone (hGH), is also enhanced by PP2. Overexpression of constitutive active v-src, but not of a kinase-inactive mutant, suppressed Ca 2؉ -dependent release. In PP2-treated cells, Pyk2, paxillin, and some other proteins showed a decrease in tyrosine phosphorylation, and the enhancement of tyrosine phosphorylation of these proteins in response to Ca 2؉ influx was also reduced. Electron and fluorescence microscopy showed that PP2 treatment induced morphological change and decreased phalloidin reactivity at the filopodium-like structures on the processes of PC12 cells. Interestingly, inhibition of actin polymerization with cytochalasin D and latrunculin A enhanced Ca 2؉ -dependent, but not basal, release. It is possible that a src family tyrosine kinase, through the regulation of actin dynamics, has an inhibitory function to regulate neurotransmitter release.N eurotransmitters are accumulated in synaptic vesicles in presynaptic nerve terminals. Ca 2ϩ influx through voltagegated Ca 2ϩ channels triggers the release of neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft by means of an exocytosis of synaptic vesicles. The modulation of neurotransmitter release is one of the cellular mechanisms for the regulation of synaptic transmission, and the involvement of various kinases has been suggested (1). Tyrosine kinases are classified as receptor types or nonreceptor types, both of which are abundant in the central nervous system. The receptor-type tyrosine kinase generally acts as a receptor for growth and trophic factors and plays an important role in the regulation of synaptic transmission through the up-regulation of neurotransmitter release from synapses of developing and mature neurons (2). The nonreceptor-type tyrosine kinase is well documented to have postsynaptic functions and is shown to phosphorylate neurotransmitter receptors, including nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nACh-R), N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA-R), and ␥-aminobutyric acid type A receptor (GABA A -R) (3). src kinase, a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase expressed in the central nervous system, is accumulated in synaptic vesicles and accounts for the majority of synapticvesicle tyrosine kinase activity (4, 5). Ca 2ϩ influx, which triggers neurotransmitter release, activates src kinase and induces tyrosine phosphorylation of several proteins, including synaptophysin, a synaptic vesicle protein (6-8). On synaptic vesicles, c-src interacts with synapsin, a perimembrane protein on these...