The landscape of viral proteomics and its potential to impact human health

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Advances in mass spectrometry-based proteomic technologies are enhancing studies of viral pathogenesis. Identification and quantification of host and viral proteins and modifications in cells and extracellular fluids during infection provides useful information about pathogenesis, and will be critical for directing clinical interventions and diagnostics.

Areas covered: Herein we review and discuss a broad range of global proteomic studies conducted during viral infection, including those of cellular responses, protein modifications, virion packaging, and serum proteomics. We focus on viruses that impact human health and focus on experimental designs that reveal disease processes and surrogate markers.

Expert commentary: Global proteomics is an important component of systems-level studies that aim to define how the interaction of humans and viruses leads to disease. Viral-community resource centers and strategies from other fields (e.g., cancer) will facilitate data sharing and platform-integration for systems-level analyses, and should provide recommended standards and assays for experimental designs and validation.

KEYWORDS:

• Biomarkers
• host-virus interactions
• mass spectrometry
• pathway analysis
• post-translational modifications
• serum proteomics

Declaration of interests

The Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate provided funding for this review through contract HSHQPM-14-X-00238/P00002 to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is operated by Battelle Memorial Institute for the United States Department of Energy under contract DE-AC06-76RLO. A portion of the work was performed using EMSL, a DOE Office of Science User Facility sponsored by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at PNNL. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the US Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate [HSHQPM 14-X-00238/P00002].