Objective To investigate the effect of hypericin on the activity of protein kinase C (PKC) in cultured human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells in vitro.Methods RPE cells were cultured in standard medium with 10% serum concentrations containing 0.5 to 5.0 μmol/L hypericin with or without preincubation of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). The activities of cytosolic PKC (c-PKC) and membranous PKC (m-PKC) were assayed by PKC kit. Results The original activities of c-PKC and m-PKC of RPE cells were (35.34±4.10) pmol·min-1·mg-1and (62.52±8.80) pmol·min-1·mg-1.The activity of c-PKC in RPE cells with PMA preincubation decreased rapidly in 5 minutes, with a subsequent slow decrease after 20 minutes and a decrease to 18% of the activity of c-PKC in RPE cells without PMA preinubation after 60 minutes. While the activity of m-PKC in RPE cells with PMA preincubation increased gradually after 5 minutes and reduced after reached the peak at 40 minutes, and then returned to baseline after 60 minutes, eventually decreased below 30% of the control group. When RPE cells were cultured with PMA for 48 hours, the activities of c-PKC and m-PKC were hardly detectable, while RPE cells were cultured with both PMA and hypericin, hypericin could counteract most of down-regulation by PMA. Conclusion Hypericin may inhibit the translocation of PKC in RPE cells,change the activity of PKC, promote the apoptosis of RPE cells likely,and then prevent proliferative vitreoretinopathy. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis，2003，19：55-58)