Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH; EC 1.2. 1.12) has classically been regarded as an ubiquitous enzyme of little
importance beyond its role in glycolysis. Indeed, the most frequent reference to GAPDH in recent scientific literature is
as the “housekeeping” gene used to standardize Northern blots. A careful examination of the literature of the last 25 years,
however, reveals a number of novel actions of GAPDH beyond a role in glycolysis. A review of these novel functions of GAPDH
is beyond the scope of this chapter, and the reader is referred to a number of recent thorough reviews by Michael Sirover
for further details (1,2
). Of the novel functions identified for GAPDH, one of the most intriguing is as an integral part of one or more apoptotic
cascades. Here, we will briefly outline the evidence for GAPDH not only playing a role in the initiation of apoptosis, but
also being a target of a number of known antiapoptotic compounds. A more in-depth discussion of the role of GAPDH in apoptosis
is provided in our recent review article (3
).