Biochemical assays for multiple activation states of protein kinase C

This protocol describes biochemical procedures to monitor the activation of the protein kinase C (PKC) family using PKCdelta as the representative. The PKC family is composed of ten isoforms divided into cPKC, nPKC and aPKC groups, and their catalytic activity is regulated by multiple mechanisms. For example, PKCdelta in the nPKC group is activated by diacylglycerol as a second messenger in the receptor-coupled manner, through tyrosine phosphorylation and protein complex formation in stress-stimulated cells, and by the caspase-catalyzed cleavage during apoptosis. The isoform is immunoprecipitated from cultured cells, the protein kinase activity is measured by in vitro kinase assay and the tyrosine phosphorylation and protein complex formation are characterized by immunoblot, whereas the generation of the catalytic fragment is detected by immunoblot in the cell extract. The combination of these procedures is useful to evaluate the activation states of the PKC family in cells. This protocol can be completed in 3-5 d.