We used proteins with randomized transmembrane (TM) domains to explore the role of hydrophobic amino acids in mediating specific interactions between transmembrane helices. The 44-aa bovine papillomavirus E5 protein, which binds to the TM domain of the PDGF receptor (PDGFR) was used as a scaffold to construct a library encoding small dimeric proteins with randomized, strictly hydrophobic TM domains, and proteins were selected that induced focus formation in mouse C127 cells by activating the PDGFR. Analysis of these proteins identified a motif of two hydrophobic residues that, when inserted into a 17-residue polyleucine TM domain, generated a protein that activated the PDGFR and transformed cells. In addition, we identified transforming proteins that activated the wild-type PDGFR but did not activate a series of PDGFR TM point mutants that were efficiently activated by the E5 protein, indicating that these proteins were more specific than the E5 protein. Our results implied that multiple van der Waals interactions distributed along the entire length of the TM domains were required for productive interaction between the PDGFR and some small proteins lacking hydrophilic TM residues. Our results also suggested that excluding hydrophilic residues from small TM proteins and peptides is a strategy to increase the specificity of heteromeric TM helix-helix interactions.helix interactions ͉ receptor activation ͉ ES protein M any essential cellular processes require proteins that are anchored in cell membranes. Most membrane-spanning domains cross membranes as ␣-helices, which can engage in highly specific side-by-side interactions with one another (1, 2). Transmembrane (TM) helix-helix interactions can mediate oligomerization of TM proteins, control their activity, and assist the proper folding of multipass TM proteins. Thus, understanding the basis for specific interactions between TM helices will provide considerable insight into the structure and function of cellular TM proteins.Detailed analysis of homodimerization of the TM domain of the major red blood cell protein, glycophorin A, suggested that the precise geometry of van der Waals interactions between hydrophobic side-chains is a major determinant of specificity and identified a GlyXXXGly motif important for dimer formation (3-5). Leucine zippers or multiple serine and threonine residues can also drive homodimer formation (6, 7). Studies with hydrophobic peptides and TM proteins showed that hydrogen bonding or charge-charge interactions between strongly polar residues can induce the formation of homooligomers and to a large extent obviate the requirement for specific packing interactions between hydrophobic side-chains (8-11). Strong interactions between hydrophilic side-chains can also mediate heteromeric associations between TM helices (12-14), but the role of packing interactions in driving the formation of specific TM helix heterooligomers has not been systematically studied.We developed a system to study heteromeric TM helix-helix interactions in mamm...