Evaluation of the activation state of protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes relies on analysis of subcellular translocation. A monoclonal antibody, 14E6, specific for the activated conformation of ⑀PKC, was raised using the first variable (V1) domain of ⑀PKC as the immunogen. 14E6 binding is specific for ⑀PKC and is greatly increased in the presence of PKC activators. Immunofluorescence staining by 14E6 of neonatal rat primary cardiac myocytes and the NG108-15 neuroblastoma glioma cell line, NG108-15/D2, increases rapidly following cell activation and is localized to new subcellular sites. However, staining of translocated ⑀PKC with 14E6 is transient, and the epitope disappears 30 min after activation of NG-108/15 cells by a D2 receptor agonist. In contrast, subcellular localization associated with activation, as determined by commercially available polyclonal antibodies, persists for at least 30 min. In vitro, ⑀RACK, the receptor for activated ⑀PKC, inhibits 14E6 binding to ⑀PKC, suggesting that the 14E6 epitope is lost or hidden when active ⑀PKC binds to its RACK. Therefore, the 14E6 antibody appears to identify a transient state of activated but non-anchored ⑀PKC. Moreover, binding of 14E6 to ⑀PKC only after activation suggests that lipid-dependent conformational changes associated with ⑀PKC activation precede binding of the activated isozyme to its specific RACK, ⑀RACK. Further, monoclonal antibody 14E6 should be a powerful tool to study the pathways that control rapid translocation of ⑀PKC from cytosolic to membrane localization on activation.