Antigenic modulation is one of many factors determining the effectiveness of monoclonal antibody (MoAb)-mediated therapy. To select the isotype of a CD19 MoAb most suitable for radioimmunotherapy of patients with B-cell malignancies, we studied the influence of MoAb isotype on modulation, after binding of the MoAb to different cell-line cells. The CD19-IgG1 MoAb was found to induce modulation of CD19 antigens on Daudi cell line cells more rapidly than did its IgG2a switch variant. We provide evidence that this difference in modulation rate is caused by the expression of Fc gamma receptor II (Fc gamma RII) on these cells. Experiments aimed at elucidating the mechanism of Fc gamma RII involvement in modulation induction by CD19-IgG1 showed that Fc gamma RII did not comodulate with CD19 MoAbs. However, cocrosslinking of CD19 and Fc gamma RII with CD19-IgG1 MoAb resulted in enhanced calcium mobilization in Daudi cells. This increased signal induction accompanies the enhanced capping and subsequent modulation of CD19 antigens. Because Fc gamma RII is expressed in varying densities on malignant B cells in all differentiation stages, our results have implications for the MoAb isotype most suitable for use in MoAb-based therapy of patients with B-cell malignancies.