Location is everything: protein translocations as a viral infection strategy

Protein movement between different subcellular compartments is an essential aspect of biological processes, including transcriptional and metabolic regulation, and immune and stress responses. As obligate intracellular parasites, viruses are master manipulators of cellular composition and organization. Accumulating evidences have highlighted the importance of infection-induced protein translocations between organelles. Both directional and temporal, these translocation events facilitate localization-dependent protein interactions and changes in protein functions that contribute to either host defense or virus replication. The discovery and characterization of protein movement is technically challenging, given the necessity for sensitive detection and subcellular resolution. Here, we discuss infection-induced translocations of host and viral proteins, and the value of integrating quantitative proteomics with advanced microscopy for understanding the biology of human virus infections.