Itzhak, D.N. et al. Cell Rep. 20, 2706–2718 (2017).

Spatial proteomics methods have proven powerful for determining the subcellular localization of proteins, which is important information for understanding protein function and cellular organization. One spatial proteomics approach called 'dynamic organellar maps' determines the subcellular localization of proteins (and changes thereof) through a combination of rapid subcellular fractionation and quantitative mass spectrometry. However, this approach has been largely limited to cells grown in culture, because it relies on metabolic labeling. In Itzhak et al., the developers of dynamic organellar maps extend this method to broaden its application to primary cells from animals by making it compatible with label-free quantification and chemical labeling and multiplexing strategies. They used their approach to map the spatial proteome of primary mouse neurons, and they compare the spatial proteome of these primary neurons to that of HeLa cells.