Binding of the talin-1 FERM (4.1/ezrin/radixin/moesin) domain to the β3 cytosolic tail causes activation of the integrin αIIbβ3. The FERM domain also binds to acidic phospholipids. Although much is known about the interaction of talin-1 with integrins and lipids, the relative contribution of each interaction to integrin regulation and possible synergy between them remain to be clarified. Here, we examined the thermodynamic interplay between FERM domain binding to phospholipid bilayers and to its binding sites in the β3 tail. We found that although both the F0F1 and F2F3 subdomains of the talin-1 FERM domain bind acidic bilayers, the full-length FERM domain binds with an affinity similar to F2F3, indicating that F0F1 contributes little to the overall interaction. When free in solution, the β3 tail has weak affinity for the FERM domain. However, appending the tail to acidic phospholipids increased its affinity for the FERM domain by three orders of magnitude. Nonetheless, the affinity of the FERM for the appended tail was similar to its affinity for binding to bilayers alone. Thus, talin-1 binding to the β3 tail is a ternary interaction dominated by a favorable surface interaction with phospholipid bilayers and set by lipid composition. Nonetheless, interactions between the FERM domain, the β3 tail, and lipid bilayers are not optimized for a high-affinity synergistic interaction, even at the membrane surface. Instead, the interactions appear to be tuned in such a way that the equilibrium between inactive and active integrin conformations can be readily regulated.cytoskeleton | plasma membrane | platelet aggregation T he integrin αIIbβ3 resides on the platelet surface in equilibrium between resting and active conformations (1-5). On circulating platelets, αIIbβ3 is constrained in its inactive conformation to prevent spontaneous platelet aggregation. Similarly, the cytoskeletal protein talin-1, whose binding to the β3 cytosolic tail (CT) stabilizes the active conformation of αIIbβ3 (6-8), is sequestered away from the β3 CT (9). Besides interacting with integrins, talin-1 interacts with negatively charged phospholipids (10-12) and phosphoinositides (13)(14)(15)(16). Stimuli generated at sites of vascular damage recruit talin-1 to the platelet plasma membrane, thereby promoting αIIbβ3 activation (17-19). Much is known about the interaction of talin-1 with integrins and lipids, but the relative contribution of each interaction to integrin regulation and possible synergy between them remain to be clarified. Elucidating these interactions is important for understanding events leading to and controlling the formation of integrin complexes and for potential pharmacologic modulation of integrin signaling.Talin-1 is a 250-kD protein containing a 45-kD N-terminal head domain attached via a flexible linker to a 200-kD C-terminal rod domain (7). Because the head domain is packed against the rod domain in its inactive state (20), talin-1 recruitment to the membrane and to integrin β CTs requires disruption of this interaction (1...