Dynamic Organellar Maps for Spatial Proteomics.

Eukaryotic cells are highly compartmentalized and protein subcellular localization critically influences protein function. Identification of the subcellular localizations of proteins and their translocation events upon perturbation has mostly been confined to targeted studies or laborious microscopy-based methods. Here we describe a systematic mass spectrometry-based method for spatial proteomics. The approach uses simple fractionation profiling and has two applications: Firstly it can be used to infer subcellular protein localization on a proteome-wide scale, resulting in a protein map of the cell. Secondly, the method permits identification of changes in protein localization, by comparing maps made under different conditions, as a tool for unbiased systems cell biology.