The role of tyrosine phosphorylation during signal transduction by the phagocytic macrophage (Mphi) FcR Fc gamma RIIIA was investigated. Cross-linking Fc gamma RIIIA on pulmonary Mphi or cultured monocytes used as in vitro model for differentiated Mphi induced rapid and transient phosphorylation of multiple protein substrates. The lymphocyte/mast cell 72-kDa protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) designated PTK72 or Syk, whose expression in Mphi was previously unknown, was identified as a major substrate by immunoprecipitation and phosphopeptide mapping. Activation of Fc gamma RIIIA stimulated a fourfold increase in Syk kinase activity assessed by autophosphorylation. Under mild lysis conditions several specific proteins were co-precipitated with the gamma subunit of Fc gamma RIIIA. Tyrosine kinase activity was also co-precipitated with gamma, as shown by in vitro phosphorylation of gamma. One of these kinases was identified as Syk by phosphopeptide mapping, suggesting a physical association between this PTK and the receptor. Two additional phosphoproteins induced by Fc gamma RIIIA cross-linking were identified: the hematopoietic proto-oncogene product p95Vav, previously implicated in B lymphocyte and mast cell signaling; and p62, a protein associated with p21Ras-GAP. Our results also establish that there are important functional similarities in signal transduction between a phagocytic Mphi FcR and other multi-subunit Ig gene family receptors in diverse cell lineages.