Protein kinase C-βII (PKCβII) is an important modulator of cellular stress responses. To test the hypothesis that PKCβII modulates the response to myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury, we subjected mice to occlusion and reperfusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Homozygous PKCβ-null (PKCβ^−/−) and wild-type mice fed the PKCβ inhibitor ruboxistaurin displayed significantly decreased infarct size and enhanced recovery of left ventricular (LV) function and reduced markers of cellular necrosis and serum creatine phosphokinase and lactate dehydrogenase levels compared with wild-type or vehicle-treated animals after 30 min of ischemia followed by 48 h of reperfusion. Our studies revealed that membrane translocation of PKCβII in LV tissue was sustained after I/R and that gene deletion or pharmacological blockade of PKCβ protected ischemic myocardium. Homozygous deletion of PKCβ significantly diminished phosphorylation of c-Jun NH₂-terminal mitogen-activated protein kinase and expression of activated caspase-3 in LV tissue of mice subjected to I/R. These data implicate PKCβ in I/R-mediated myocardial injury, at least in part via phosphorylation of JNK, and suggest that blockade of PKCβ may represent a potent strategy to protect the vulnerable myocardium.