Laboratory of Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
A complementary DNA (cDNA) of 2559 bp which encode all 674 amino acids of mouse protein kinase C-delta (PKC-delta) has been isolated from a cDNA library prepared from ABPL-2, a mouse myeloid tumor. The library was screened with a partial PKC-delta cDNA clone that had been created by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of ABPL-2 RNA using primers that are conserved among all rat PKC isozymes. This approach proved to be a distinct improvement over screening with synthetic oligonucleotides. Similar sets of cDNAs prepared from other hemopoietic cell lines were screened with this PKC-delta cDNA and with probes for the other PKC isoforms. These experiments revealed that the major isoform of PKC expressed in hemopoietic cells is PKC-delta. PKC-delta protein was purified from ABPL-3, a mouse myeloid tumor which expressed principally the delta isoform of PKC. The protein eluted from a hydroxylapatite column in the same position as PKC-beta and -epsilon would elute, if present. The kinase activity of purified PKC-delta showed strict dependence on the presence of phospholipids, but showed no activation by Ca2+.