e Bruton's tyrosine kinase (Btk), belonging to the Tec family of tyrosine kinases (TFKs), is essential for B-lymphocyte development. Abrogation of Btk signaling causes human X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) and murine X-linked immunodeficiency (Xid). We employed affinity purification of Flag-tagged Btk, combined with tandem mass spectrometry, to capture and identify novel interacting proteins. We here characterize the interaction with ankryin repeat domain 54 protein (ANKRD54), also known as Lyn-interacting ankyrin repeat protein (Liar). While Btk is a nucleocytoplasmic protein, the Liar pool was found to shuttle at a higher rate than Btk. Importantly, our results suggest that Liar mediates nuclear export of both Btk and another TFK, Txk/Rlk. Liar-mediated Btk shuttling was enriched for activation loop, nonphosphorylated Btk and entirely dependent on Btk's SH3 domain. Liar also showed reduced binding to an aspartic acid phosphomimetic SH3 mutant. Three other investigated nucleus-located proteins, Abl, estrogen receptor  (ER), and transcription factor T-bet, were all unaffected by Liar. We mapped the interaction site to the C terminus of the Btk SH3 domain. A biotinylated, synthetic Btk peptide, ARDKNGQEGYIPSNYVTEAEDS, was sufficient for this interaction. Liar is the first protein identified that specifically influences the nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of Btk and Txk and belongs to a rare group of known proteins carrying out this activity in a Crm1-dependent manner. C ytoplasmic (nonreceptor) protein tyrosine kinases (cPTKs or nPTKs) are essential cellular components in multicellular organisms (12, 21), orchestrating signal transduction in diverse cell types, including hematopoietic cells (16,32). Btk is a cytoplasmic PTK belonging to the Tec family of tyrosine kinases (TFKs), the second largest family of cPTKs. It is expressed in the B-cell lineage and plays a pivotal role in signaling and development (7,26,41). Mutations in the corresponding gene give rise to X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) in humans and X-linked immunodeficiency (Xid) in mice, severely impairing B-lymphocyte development (34,(43)(44)(45). Activation of Btk, through various receptors at the plasma membrane, ignites a cascade of signaling events, resulting in the formation of a multiprotein complex, the "signalosome." Despite the fact that a broad spectrum of signaling partners has been identified, both in vitro and in vivo (19, 26), still little is known about the composition of signaling components downstream of Btk.The Btk protein has a conserved multidomain architecture comprised of PH, Tec homology (TH), SH3, SH2, and kinase (SH1) domains (26,41). Each of the Btk domains has the capacity to interact with various signaling molecules, enabling Btk to carry out diverse biological processes (26,41). Membrane tethering of Btk is mediated by its PH domain through interaction with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-generated phophatidylinositol 3,4,5-triphosphate (PIP3), which results in the full activation of the kinase and also locates Btk ...