Human kidney 293 TSA cells were transfected by a calcium phosphate method with human formylpeptide and CSa re.~ptor cDNAs with higli efficiency. Formylpeptide receptor positive transfectants expressed a total of 968.000 ± 34,000 receptors per cell with two affinity stat©s (Kds of ca. 0.43 nM and 39 riM), which in the presence of 100/~M GTP~,S decreased by ca. 4-fold the number of high-affinity sites. The ligand binding pharmacology of cloned and expressed formylpeptide r~ptors were indistinguishable from endogenous receptors on human neutrophils. Expres.~d formylpcptide and CSa receptors were functionally active in mobilizing intracellular calcium via a pertussis toxin sensitive mechanism with an £Ds0 for formylpeptid¢ of ca. 0.5-1.0 nM. This expression system, in which receptor expression can be monitored by flow cytometrie methods and in which intracellular calcium responses are measurable, unlike in the more popular COS-7 cell expression system, will provide a useful basis for the analysis of chemoattractant receptor structure-function relationships.