A novel method has been developed, based on osmotic lysis of intracellular pinocytotic vesicles, to introduce the Ca2+-activated photoprotein obelin into the cytoplasm of rat peritoneal macrophages. The change in osmolarity of the incubating medium necessary to induce lysis of the pinocytotic vesicles did not significantly affect the viability or responsiveness of the cells. The method enabled on average 3 fl of external medium to be introduced into each cell. Macrophages loaded with photoprotein had a resting intracellular Ca2+ concentration of 0.24 +/- 0.02 microM, calculated from the obelin consumption rate. The calcium ionophore, A23187, induced a prolonged rise in intracellular Ca2+ and also stimulated oxygen-radical production, monitored by luminol-dependent chemiluminescence. The chemotactic peptide, N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine, 1 microM, produced a transient increase in cytoplasmic Ca2+ which reached a plateau of 1.2 +/- 0.64 microM (n = 7) and declined with a half-time of approximately 40 sec. Unopsonized particles, latex beads (diameter = 1 micron), did not produce any detectable rise in intracellular Ca2+. Incorporation of a calcium chelator EGTA-ethylene-glycol-bis-(aminoethylether) tetra-acetate--into the cytoplasm abolished the transient intracellular Ca2+ rise induced by chemotactic peptide. Oxygen-radical production was also abolished. However, oxygen radical production induced by unopsonized particles was unaffected by intracellular EGTA. It was concluded that oxygen-radical production detected by chemiluminescence can be triggered by a rise in intracellular Ca2+. Chemotactic peptide induces oxygen-radical production by this mechanism. However, unopsonized particles induce oxygen-radical production by a mechanism independent of a rise in intracellular Ca2+.