The superoxide generating NADPH oxidase of phagocytes consists, in resting cells, of a membrane-associated electron transporting flavocytochrome (cytochrome b 559 ) and four cytosolic proteins as follows: p47 phox , p67 phox , p40 phox , and the small GTPase, Rac(1 or 2). Activation of the oxidase is consequent to the assembly of a membrane-localized multimolecular complex consisting of cytochrome b 559 and the cytosolic components. We used "peptide walking" (Joseph, G., and Pick, E. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 29079 -29082) for mapping domains in the amino acid sequence of p47 phox participating in the molecular events leading to the activation of NADPH oxidase. Ninety-five overlapping pentadecapeptides, with a four-residue offset between neighboring peptides, spanning the complete p47 phox sequence, were tested for the ability to inhibit NADPH oxidase activation in a cell-free system. This consisted of solubilized macrophage membranes, recombinant p47 phox , p67 phox , and Rac1, and lithium dodecyl sulfate, as the activator. Eight functional domains were identified and labeled a-h. phox , and domains f and h, in the C-terminal half, represent newly identified entities, for which there is no earlier experimental evidence of involvement in NADPH oxidase activation. "Peptide walking" was also applied to the identification of domains in p47 phox mediating binding to p67 phox . This was done by quantifying, by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the binding of p67 phox , in solution, to a series of 95 overlapping biotinylated p47 phox peptides, attached to streptavidin-coated 96-well plates. A single proline-rich domain (residues 357-371) was found to bind p67 phox in the absence and presence of lithium dodecyl sulfate.Phagocytic cells produce, in response to appropriate stimuli, a variety of oxygen-derived toxic radicals, all of which are derived from superoxide (O 2 . ). 1 O 2 . is generated by the NADPHderived one-electron reduction of molecular oxygen, catalyzed by a membrane-associated heterodimeric flavocytochrome (cytochrome b 559 ), composed of a 91-kDa glycoprotein (gp91 phox ) and a 22-kDa protein (p22 phox ), and incorporating two redox centers, FAD and two hemes (reviewed in Refs. 1-3). The conversion of cytochrome b 559 from the resting to the activated state is, most likely, the result of a conformational change leading to a high turnover electron flow from NADPH to oxygen, through the redox centers. This change in conformation is brought about by protein-protein interactions involving the two cytochrome b 559 subunits and four cytosolic regulatory proteins, p47phox , p67 phox , p40 phox , and the small GTPase Rac(1 or 2) (reviewed in Refs. 4 and 5). It is commonly assumed that activation leads to the formation of a membrane-localized multimolecular structure, known as the NADPH oxidase complex. The physical expression of this, in the intact cell, is the translocation of parts of p47 phox and p67 phox to the plasma membrane (6) associated with the phosphorylation of p47 phox at multiple sites (7). Whe...