When rat mast cells are prelabeled with 32PO4 and exposed to non-immunologic or immunologic stimuli under conditions that lead to mediator release from granules, they show rapid increases in labeling of a number of high molecular weight proteins. To determine if granule membrane proteins are subject to protein phosphorylation and perhaps participate in this response, granules with intact or broken membranes were isolated from sonicated, purified rat serosal mast cells on a Percoll gradient. When the granules with broken membranes were incubated with [gamma-32P]ATP and Mg2+ in the absence of exogenous protein kinases, one major radioactive band was recovered in the 44K area after electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gels. The phosphorylation reaction with ATP required Mg2+, was enhanced by 0.05 to 0.5 microM cyclic AMP, and was inhibited by Ca2+ (0.5 mM and higher). The initial reaction was rapid, and the maximal response was seen at 30 degrees. The 44K band was absent in granules with intact membranes incubated with [gamma-32P]ATP but present when intact granules were lysed with distilled water before adding the [gamma-32P]ATP. These observations indicate that granules have an endogenous phosphorylating system and that the phosphorylation response is on the inner surface of the granule membranes. The possibility was not excluded that a portion of the phosphorylating activity was derived from the cytosol and became firmly associated with broken granules when the intact cells were sonicated. Analysis for possible phosphorylated amino acids in the 44K band after acid hydrolysis showed both phosphoserine and phosphothreonine, indicating that the radioactivity was in a phosphorylated protein or glycoprotein. The 44K phosphorylated protein was made up of several components ranging in pI from approximately 7.6 to 6.6. While the identity of the phosphorylated 44K polypeptide is uncertain, one important possibility is that it is part of an autophosphorylated cAMP dependent protein kinase. The cyclic AMP dependent phosphorylating activity present in granules provides a mechanism by which the granules might respond rapidly to cyclic AMP during mediator release.