The respiratory burst oxidase of phagocytes and B lymphocytes catalyzes the reduction of oxygen to superoxide anion (O 2 . ) at the expense of NADPH. This multicomponent enzyme is dormant in resting cells but is activated on exposure to an appropriate stimulus. The phosphorylation-dependent mechanisms regulating the activation of the respiratory burst oxidase are unclear, particularly the phosphorylation status of the cytosolic component p67
phox. In this study, we found that activation of human neutrophils with formyl-methionylleucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP), a chemotactic peptide, or phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), a stimulator of protein kinase C (PKC), resulted in the phosphorylation of p67 phox . Using an anti-p67 phox antibody or an antip47 phox antibody, we showed that phosphorylated p67 phox and p47 phox form a complex. Phosphoamino acid analysis of the phosphorylated p67 phox revealed only 32 P-labeled serine residues. Two-dimensional tryptic peptide mapping analysis showed that p67 phox is phosphorylated at the same peptide whether fMLP or PMA is used as a stimulus. In addition, PKC induced the phosphorylation of recombinant GST-p67 phox in vitro, at the same peptide as that phosphorylated in intact cells. PMA-induced phosphorylation of p67 phox was strongly inhibited by the PKC inhibitor GF109203X. In contrast, fMLP-induced phosphorylation was minimally affected by this PKC inhibitor. Taken together, these results show that p67 phox is phosphorylated in human neutrophils by different pathways, one of which involves protein kinase C.