PKCa, Active

Protein kinase C (PKC) is a family of serine- and threonine-specific protein kinases that can be activated by calcium and the second messenger diacylglycerol. PKC family members phosphorylate a wide variety of protein targets and are known to be involved in diverse cellular signaling pathways. PKC family members also serve as major receptors for phorbol esters, a class of tumor promoters. PKC-α has been reported to play roles in many different cellular processes, such as cell adhesion, cell transformation, cell cycle checkpoint, and cell volume control. Coussens defined a new family of PKC-related genes and termed α, β, and γ (1). Latos-Bielenska refined the assignment of PRKCA1 to 17q22-q23.2 (2). Braz identified PKC-α as a fundamental regulator of cardiac contractility and Ca(2+) handling in myocytes in study of knockout mice (3).