Giant-cell formation induced by macrophage fusion factor (MFF) was not altered after pretreatment of macrophages with trypsin, chymotrypsin, pronase, neuraminidase, phospholipase C, or phospholipase D. Pretreatment of macrophages with either alpha-mannosidase or alpha-glucosidase completely inhibited giant-cell development, without altering macrophage viability. No alteration of giant-cell formation was observed when 0.1 M of L-fucose, N-acetyl-glucosamine, D-arabinose, D-xylose, melibiose, D-glucose, D-galactose, alpha-lactose, sucrose, D-fructose, or maltose was present during incubation of macrophages with MFF. Giant-cell formation was abolished when 0.1 M alpha-D-mannose was present during macrophage incubation with MFF. These results suggest that the protein moiety of MFF recognizes a specific receptor site on the macrophage membrane, one that is different from those described for other lymphokines and contains alpha-mannose.