Protein kinase C (PKC) is a family of closely related enzymes, or isozymes, that participate in a number of critical biological processes.  Abnormal PKC signaling has been associated with various diseases; consequently, individual PKC isozymes are valuable therapeutic targets in disease processes such as cardiovascular, pain, inflammation, metabolic diseases, angiogenesis and cancer.

There are key eight isozymes within the PKC family:  alpha, beta 1, beta 2, gamma, delta, epsilon, theta and eta.  Each isozyme has a distinct function within cells, and modulation of the activity of each isozyme is associated with specific disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets. 

KAI’s technology is based on the key insight that the specificity of function of PKC isozymes is conferred by their unique subcellular localization. Once PKC isozymes are activated, each isozyme is differentially localized within the cell and anchored by a specific interaction between the isozyme and its unique intracellular receptor, or RACK (Receptor for Activated C Kinase). KAI has leveraged the interaction of each PKC isozyme with its RACK to develop specific PKC modulators that can treat a variety of diseases associated with PKC regulation.