The NADPH oxidase of phagocytes catalyzes the reduction of oxygen to $O_2^-$ at the expense of NADPH. The enzyme is dormant in resting neutrophils and becomes activated on stimulation. During activation, $p47^{phox};(underline{ph}agocyte;underline{ox}idase;factor)$, a cytosolic oxidase subunit, becomes extensively phosphorylated at a number of serines located between S303-S379. Oxidase activation can also be achieved by the addition of phosphorylated recombinant $p47^{phox}$ by protein kinase C in the cell-free system in the presence of $GTP{gamma}S$. The cell-free activation is inhibited by wortmannin and LY294002. specific inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3kinase (PI 3-kinasel) These results indicate that PI 3-kinase may playa pivotal role in the activation of NADPH oxidase.