Expression of protein kinase C genes in normal (+/+) and W mutant alleles (W-sh/W-sh, W/W-v) mice testes

In the present study, we investigated the expression of mRNA of protein kin ase C (PKC) isoenzymes (alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, xi, eta, and th eta) in normal (+/+) and W mutant alleles mice testes. In +/+ mice testes, abundant expression of PKC delta and PKC theta was observed, while other PK Cs (alpha, beta, gamma, epsilon, xi, and eta) generally were not detected b y Northern blotting. The PKC delta and PKC theta isoenzymes demonstrated a distinctive cellular distribution when evaluated by in situ hybridization. We have previously shown that PKC delta gene was selectively expressed in s permatid of +/+ testes. Here we show that PKC delta gene is also present in spermatid of W-sh/W-sh mice testes and PKC theta gene was present in inter stitial cells of +/+, W-sh/W-sh, and W/W-v mice testes. These studies provi de the evidence of selective cell distributions of the PKC isoenzymes and s uggest that PKC has the functional significance in testes.