Combining metabolic pulse labeling and quantitative proteomics to monitor protein synthesis upon viral infection

Viruses like influenza A virus (IAV) hijack host cells in order to replicate. To actively and abundantly synthesize viral proteins, they reprogram the cellular transcriptional and translational landscape. Here, we present a proteomic approach that allows us to quantify the differences in host and viral protein synthesis comparatively for different strains of IAV. The method is based on combining quantitative proteomics using stable isotope labelling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) and bioorthogonal labeling with methionine analogs. This methodology accurately quantifies synthesis of host and viral proteins with high temporal resolution and faithfully detects global changes in cellular translation capacity. It thus provides unique insights into the dynamics of protein synthesis as the infection progresses.