There are two distinct genes that encode murine low affinity Fc gamma RII, murine Fc gamma RII alpha, and murine Fc gamma RII beta, which are transcribed in specific cell lineages. Fc gamma RII alpha transcripts are present in macrophages, NK cells, and mesangial cells; Fc gamma RII beta transcripts are expressed in Fc gamma R-bearing B cells, T cells, and macrophages. We have devised a sandwich ELISA to quantify the expression of Fc gamma RII alpha protein. The ELISA is specific for Fc gamma RII alpha, and does not detect the closely related Fc gamma RII beta protein. Upon stimulation with IFN-gamma the Fc gamma RII beta- macrophage cell line J774a expressed a twelvefold enhanced level of Fc gamma RII alpha protein. Peritoneal macrophages synthesized varying amounts of Fc gamma RII alpha. High levels of Fc gamma RII alpha were observed in resident and thioglycollate-elicited peritoneal macrophages, but no Fc gamma RII alpha was detected in Bacillus Calmette Guérin-elicited macrophages. J774a cells stimulated with rIL-6 bound approximately twice as much anti-Fc gamma RII mAb 2.4G2 IgG as did unstimulated controls. However, the Fc gamma RII alpha-specific ELISA showed no change in the amount of Fc gamma RII alpha expressed. A probe encompassing the extracellular coding sequence of Fc gamma RII beta hybridized to two distinct transcripts that were elevated in rIL-6-stimulated J774a cells. One of these transcripts had the same mobility in electrophoresis as Fc gamma RII alpha mRNA and hybridized to an Fc gamma RII alpha-specific probe, whereas the other transcript was larger and did not hybridize to probes specific for either Fc gamma RII alpha or Fc gamma RII beta. Moreover, we confirmed, with an Fc gamma RII beta-specific probe, that J774a cells do not make Fc gamma RII beta mRNA. Thus, the larger transcript appears to encode a novel Fc gamma RII. We suggest that the increased level of binding of the anti-Fc gamma RII mAb 2.4G2 to rIL-6-induced cells represents translation of a Fc gamma R distinct from Fc gamma RII alpha or Fc gamma RII beta.