Electron microscopic localization of type I protein kinase C in rat Purkinje cells.

A monoclonal antibody against protein kinase C (PKC) was used for immunocytochemical studies of the type I PKC encoded by gamma-cDNA sequence (gamma-subspecies) in rat Purkinje cells. Dense gamma-subspecies-like immunoreactivity was found on the cell membrane and in the cytoplasm except within cell organelles of the perikaryon, dendrites, axon, and axon terminals. The nucleus was also stained but less heavily, and the nucleoli remained unstained. Synaptic vesicles in the axon terminals were densely stained. The results suggest that gamma-subspecies might be functionally involved in modulation of nuclear function and of pre- and postsynaptic functions including transmitter release in the rat Purkinje cells.