Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases have a central role in several biological functions, including cell adhesion and spreading, chemotaxis, cell cycle progression, differentiation and apoptosis. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 8 (Erk8) is a large MAP kinase whose activity is controlled by serum and the c-Src non-receptor tyrosine kinase. Here, we show that RET/PTC3, an activated form of the RET proto-oncogene, was able to activate Erk8 and we demonstrate that such MAP kinase participate to RET/PTC3-dependent stimulation of the c-jun promoter. By using RET/PTC3 molecules mutated in specific tyrosine auto-phosphorylation sites, we characterized Tyr981, a known binding site for c-Src, as a major determinant of RET/PTC3-induced Erk8 activation although, surprisingly, the underlying mechanism did not strictly depend on the activity of Src. In contrast, we present evidence that RET/PTC3 acts on Erk8 through Tyr981-mediated activation of c-Abl. Furthermore, we localized the region responsible for the modulation of Erk8 activity by the RET/PTC3 and Abl oncogenes in the Erk8 C-terminal domain. Altogether, these results support a role for Erk8 as a novel effector of RET/PTC3 and, therefore, RET biological functions.