Incubation of a 0.5% suspension of washed normal mouse erythrocytes with ferriprotoporphyrin IX (FP) for 2.5 h at 37 degrees C and pH 7.4 results in sufficient membrane damage to produce hemolysis. A sigmoidal dose-response curve is followed with 50% hemolysis being produced by 4 microM FP. Complete hemolysis is produced by 6 microM FP. The hemolytic process has at least two phases: a lag phase of approximately 45 min, during which little hemolysis occurs, and a phase characterized by rapid hemolysis. Chloroquine, which binds tightly to FP, enhances the effect of FP by eliminating the lag phase. Under the conditions of these experiments, maximum enhancement is observed with chloroquine concentrations in the range of 5-25 microM. Since FP is produced when malaria parasites digest hemoglobin, it may mediate a chemotherapeutic effect of chloroquine by forming a complex with the drug that could enhance the toxicity of FP for biological membranes, including those of the parasite.