In this study, during the activation of neutrophil responses by sodium fluoride. involvement of protein tyrosine kinase was studied. Respiratory burst lysosomal enzyme release and elevation of $[Ca^{2+}]_i$stimulated by sodium fluoride in neutrophils were inhibited by protein kinase inhibitors, genistein and tyrphostin. The inhibitory effect of genistein and tyrphostin on superoxide and $H_{2}O_{2}$ production was less than that of protein kinase C inhibitors, staurosporine and H-7. Staurosporine and H-7 had little or no effect on the release of myeloperoxidase and acid phosphatase stimulated by sodium fluoride. EGTA and verapamil inhibited the elevation of $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ evoked by sodium fluoride. The inhibitory effect of staurosporine on the elevation of $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ was less than that of genistein. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-stimulated superoxide production, which is sensitive to staurosporine, was further enhanced by genistein, whereas the stimulatory action of PMA on myeloperoxidase release was inhibited by genistein. A pretreatment of neutrophils with PMA signifcantly attenuated sodium fluoride-evoked elevation of $[Ca^{2+}]_i$ These results suggest that protein tyrosine kinase may be involved in the activation process of neutrophil responses due to direct stimulation of guanine nucleotide regulatory proteins. In neutrophil responses, PMA-stimulated neutrophils appear to show a different type of inhibition of protein tyrosine kinase.