Mouse peritoneal macrophages activated in vivo by the injection of Corynebacterium parvum release larger amounts of superoxide anion (O2-) than macrophages from control mice when stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). The biochemical bases for this enhanced response of activated macrophages have been investigated by studying the expression and function of receptors for the stimulant, and the activity of the enzyme NADPH oxidase which is responsible for the production of O2- in leucocytes. Studies of binding of phorbol dibutyrate, an agent closely related to PMA, showed that the affinity constants (Kds) and the number of binding sites were the same in resident and activated peritoneal macrophages. The activity of the NADPH oxidase was, however, different in the two macrophage populations which differ in their capacity to release O2-. NADPH oxidase activity was studied in macrophage monolayers after lysis with deoxycholate. The main features of this activity were as follows: stimulation of macrophages with PMA or zymosan caused an increase in NADPH-dependent O2- production; NADPH oxidase activity in the lysates followed the same dose-response curve for different concentrations of PMA as O2- release by intact macrophages; O2- release by intact macrophages could be fully accounted for by NADPH-dependent O2- production by macrophage lysates; activity was strictly substrate-specific, in that NADH could not substitute for NADPH; after stimulation with PMA or zymosan, NADPH oxidase activity was higher in lysates of C. parvum-activated macrophages than in lysates of resident macrophages; NADPH oxidase activities of activated and resident macrophages differed markedly in their kinetic parameters. The NADPH oxidase of macrophages activated by C. parvum or trehalose dimycolate of mycobacterial origin displayed a five to seven times lower Km compared to the enzyme in resident macrophages.