I am a graduate student in Experimental Pathology and I am currently working in Mary Reyland's lab. I study the role of Protein Kinase C, particularly the zeta isoform, and its regulatory role in salivary cell apoptosis. PKCz is a member of the atypical PKC subfamily. PKCz has been shown to be important for a number of cellular processes including cell survival and proliferation. Upon the addition of etoposide, which induces the salivary cells to undergo apoptosis, PKCz is cleaved. I have been able to show that the cleavage is caspase dependent and I have also recently shown that the fragment produced by this cleavage event is catalytically active. I hope to eventually determine the role and possible substrates of the active fragment as well as the full length PKCz in salivary cell apoptosis.