Oxidative modifications of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase play a key role in its multiple cellular functions

Knowledge of the cellular targets of ROS (reactive oxygen species) and their regulation is an essential prerequisite for understanding ROS-mediated signalling. GAPDH (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) is known as a major target protein in oxidative stresses and becomes thiolated in its active site. However, the molecular and functional changes of oxidized GAPDH, the inactive form, have not yet been characterized. To examine the modifications of GAPDH under oxidative stress, we separated the oxidation products by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and identified them using nanoLC-ESI-q-TOF MS/MS (nano column liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight tandem MS). Intracellular GAPDH subjected to oxidative stress separated into multiple acidic spots on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and were identified as cysteine disulfide and cysteic acids on Cys¹⁵² in the active site. We identified the interacting proteins of oxidized inactive GAPDH as p54nrb (54 kDa nuclear RNA-binding protein) and PSF (polypyrimidine tract-binding protein-associated splicing factor), both of which are known to exist as heterodimers and bind to RNA and DNA. Interaction between oxidized GAPDH and p54nrb was abolished upon expression of the GAPDH active site mutant C152S. The C-terminal of p54nrb binds to GAPDH in the cytosol in a manner dependent on the dose of hydrogen peroxide. The GAPDH–p54nrb complex enhances the intrinsic topoisomerase I activation by p54nrb–PSF binding. These results suggest that GAPDH exerts other functions beyond glycolysis, and that oxidatively modified GAPDH regulates its cellular functions by changing its interacting proteins, i.e. the RNA splicing by interacting with the p54nrb–PSF complex.