Although cell membranes normally resist the hydrolytic action of secretory phospholipase A(2) (sPLA(2)), they become susceptible during apoptosis or after cellular trauma. Experimentally, susceptibility to the enzyme can be induced by loading cells with calcium. In human erythrocytes, the ability of the calcium ionophore to cause susceptibility depends on temperature, occurring best above approximately 35 degrees C. Considerable evidence from experiments with artificial bilayers suggests that hydrolysis of membrane lipids requires two steps. First, the enzyme adsorbs to the membrane surface, and second, a phospholipid diffuses from the membrane into the active site of the adsorbed enzyme. Analysis of kinetic experiments suggested that this mechanism can explain the action of sPLA(2) on erythrocyte membranes and that temperature and calcium loading promote the second step. This conclusion was further supported by binding experiments and assessment of membrane lipid packing. The adsorption of fluorescent-labeled sPLA(2) was insensitive to either temperature or ionophore treatment. In contrast, the fluorescence of merocyanine 540, a probe sensitive to lipid packing, was affected by both. Lipid packing decreased modestly as temperature was raised from 20 to 60 degrees C. Calcium loading enhanced packing at temperatures in the low end of this range, but greatly reduced packing at higher temperatures. This result was corroborated by measurements of the rate of extraction of a fluorescent phosphatidylcholine analog from erythrocyte membranes. Furthermore, drugs known to inhibit susceptibility in erythrocytes also prevented the increase in phospholipid extraction rate. These results argue that the two-step model applies to biological as well as artificial membranes and that a limiting step in the hydrolysis of erythrocyte membranes is the ability of phospholipids to migrate into the active site of adsorbed enzyme.