Synaptic vesicle recycling after intense acetylcholine (ACh) release was studied at the frog neuromuscular junction (NMJ) using the synaptic vesicle transmembrane protein synaptophysin as immunocytochemical marker of the synaptic vesicle membrane during the process of exo-endocytosis. ACh release in cutaneous pectoris nerve-muscle preparations was stimulated by three different means: K+, Cd2+ in Ca(2+)-free medium, and electrical stimulation in the presence of 4-aminopyridine (4-AP). Cd2+ stimulation produced synaptic vesicle depletion and nerve terminal swelling. Electrical stimulation in the presence of 4-AP produced a reduction in the number of synaptic vesicles, deep axolemmal infoldings, coated pits, and coated vesicles. K+ stimulation did not produce any observable ultrastructural changes. Synaptophysin was labeled using silver-intensified immunogold in dissociated muscle fibers. Unstimulated and K(+)-stimulated preparations showed synaptophysin immunolabeling associated only with synaptic vesicles. In contrast, in Cd(2+)-stimulated preparations, synaptophysin appeared along the axolemma, mainly at the active zones, and after electrical stimulation it appeared in both axolemmal infoldings and the remaining synaptic vesicles. The results show that when synaptic vesicle recycling is inhibited by Cd2+ in Ca(2+)-free medium, or when 4-AP is present during electrical stimulation, synaptic vesicle fusion is accompanied by translocation and incorporation of synaptic vesicle membrane proteins into the axolemma. However, during the latter condition, synaptic vesicles are recycled through coated vesicles arising from the axolemmal infoldings. Conversely, during physiological-like stimulation of ACh release by K+ the synaptic vesicles are rapidly recycled at the active zones, by a double and rapid process of exo-endocytosis, without collapse into the axolemma.