Protein kinase C in the nervous system of insects: effects of phorbol esters on cholinergic synapses.

Specific high affinity binding sites for phorbol esters have been demonstrated in the nervous tissue of locust. The binding was reduced by the kinase C-inhibitor polymyxin B. Phorbol esters in micromolar concentrations activated protein kinase C in subcellular preparations from locust ganglia. The same concentrations of phorbol esters significantly enhanced the high affinity transport of choline and the release of acetylcholine by locust synaptosomes.