Tyrosine kinase substrates are described herein that are phosphorylated by many and diverse tyrosine kinases, and are chemically stable relative to co-polymers of poly-EY or poly-EAY having random molecular weights in the range of 20-50 kDa. Tyrosine kinase substrate peptides are provided according to embodiments described herein which include an isolated tyrosine kinase substrate peptide having molecular weight in the range of about 0.5 kD-10 kD. Tyrosine kinase substrate peptides are provided according to embodiments described herein having no more than 50 amino acids. The peptides include 2-25 phosphorylation modules and each phosphorylation module has 2-3 amino acid residues.