Microglial cell phagocytic receptors may play important roles in the pathogenesis and treatment of several neurological diseases. We studied microglial Fc receptor (FcR) activation with respect to the specific Fc␥R types involved and the downstream signaling events by using monoclonal antibody (MAb)-coated Cryptococcus neoformans immune complexes as the stimuli and macrophage inflammatory protein 1␣ (MIP-1␣) production as the final outcome. C. neoformans complexed with murine immunoglobulin G (IgG) of ␥1, ␥2a, and ␥3, but not ␥2b isotype, was effective in inducing MIP-1␣ in human microglia. Since murine ␥2b binds to human Fc␥RII (but not Fc␥RI or Fc␥RIII), these results indicate that Fc␥RI and/or Fc␥RIII is involved in MIP-1␣ production. Consistent with this, an antibody that blocks Fc␥RII (IV.3) failed to inhibit MIP-1␣ production, while an antibody that blocks Fc␥RIII (3G8) did. An anti-C. neoformans MAb, 18B7 (IgG1), but not its F(ab) 2 , induced extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase phosphorylation, and MIP-1␣ release was suppressed by the ERK inhibitor U0126. C. neoformans plus 18B7 also induced degradation of I-B␣, and MIP-1␣ release was suppressed by the antioxidant NF-B inhibitor pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate. To confirm the role of FcR more directly, we isolated microglia from wild-type and various FcR-deficient mice and then challenged them with C. neoformans plus 18B7. While Fc␥RII-deficient microglia showed little difference from the wild-type microglia, both Fc␥RI ␣-chain-and Fc␥RIII ␣-chain-deficient microglia produced less MIP-1␣, and the common Fc ␥-chain-deficient microglia showed no MIP-1␣ release. Taken together, our results demonstrate a definitive role for Fc␥RI and Fc␥RIII in microglial chemokine induction and implicate ERK and NF-B as the signaling components leading to MIP-1␣ expression. Our results delineate a new mechanism for microglial activation and may have implications for central nervous system inflammatory diseases.