The internalization of peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) immune complexes by human neutrophil granulocytes was studied at an ultrastructural level. PAP initially bound to the plasma membrane at 4 degrees C accumulated in endosomes within 5 min of internalization. By that time, all of the ligand bound to the plasma membrane had been removed from the cell surface and the cells were able to bind newly added PAP. Pre-embedding labelling of FcRIII on these cells showed that this receptor was present on the cell surface, indicating involvement of FcRIII in the rebinding of PAP in neutrophils. The origin of FcRIII present on the plasma membrane after Fc receptor-mediated internalization of PAP was investigated in another series of experiments. Incubation of the cells with pronase eliminated the epitope on the Fc receptor recognized by anti-FcRIII. After the pronase treatment hardly any Fc receptors were detected on the plasma membrane. However, incubation of the cells for only 5 min in a protease-free medium after the pronase treatment led to an abundance of FcRIII on the plasma membrane of the neutrophils. These findings support the hypothesis that FcRIII on the plasma membrane of human neutrophil granulocytes is replenished from an internal source of free Fc receptors and suggest that at least some of the receptors present on the cell surface after the binding and internalization of PAP originate from this source in the cytoplasm.