Much attention has been paid to the "inflammatory hypothesis" in recent years， which suggests that inflammation is involved in the pathogenesis of depression. Activation of microglia， the immune cells of the central nervous system， increases the release of inflammatory cytokines and triggers an inflammatory state in the body， which in turn is involved in the development of depression. Protein kinases have been found to play an important role in regulating microglia activation， and protein kinase C （PKC） is probably the most important kinase in this process. In addition， it was found that changes in both PKC expression levels and activity may be closely related to the pathogenesis of depression. Therefore， we will first provide a brief overview of PKC， and then clarify the relationship between PKC and depression by summarizing evidence from animal and clinical studies. Finally， we will focus on PKC-related signaling pathways involved in the pathogenesis of depression to provide research ideas for the immuno inflammatory hypothesis of depression and provide scientific basis for finding new targets for antidepressant therapy