Phagocytic leukocytes contain an activatable NADPH:O2 oxidoreductase. Components of this enzyme system include cytochrome b558, and three soluble oxidase components (SOC I, SOC II, and SOC III) found in the cytosol of resting cells. Previously, we found that SOC II copurifies with, and is probably identical to, a 47-kDa substrate of protein kinase C. In the present study we investigated the change in location of several of these oxidase components after activation of intact neutrophils with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and separation of subcellular fraction on sucrose density gradients. On Western blots with fractions of resting cells, the alpha subunit of cytochrome b558 was detected with a monoclonal antibody as a doublet of Mr 22,000 and 24,000 in the specific granules and as a single band of Mr 24,000 in the plasma membrane. PMA induced an increase of cytochrome b558 in the plasma membrane, including the Mr 22,000 band. PMA also induced translocation of the 47-kDa protein from the cytosol to the membrane fraction, as revealed by in vitro phosphorylation experiments. When NADPH oxidase activity was determined in a cell-free system in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate and GTP with plasma membranes from resting cells, cytosol from PMA-treated cells was deficient compared with cytosol from resting cells. This deficiency could be partially restored by the addition of SOC I. Concomitantly, SOC I activity appeared in the plasma membranes of PMA-treated cells. These studies support the hypothesis that PMA stimulation of neutrophils results in assembly of oxidase components from the cytosol and the specific granules in the plasma membrane with subsequent expression of NADPH oxidase activity.