Salubrinal is a cell-permeable and selective inhibitor of the phosphatase complexes that dephosphorylate eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 subunit α (eIF-2α). Shown to protect cells from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-induced apoptosis (EC50~15μM) in PC12 cell lines induced with the protein glycosylation inhibitor tunicamycin (sc-201539), and brefeldin A (sc-200861), which causes ER stress by blocking ER-to-Golgi vesicle transport. Salubrinal is a potentially useful agent to study mechanisms of ER stress-induced apoptosis.