Can sugarcoated fingerprints be used to identify lurking viruses?

Comparative proteomics is increasingly used to detect biomarkers and therapeutic targets that differ between healthy and diseased populations; however, differences in posttranslational modifications have received less attention. In this issue, Yang et al. (Proteomics 2016, 16, 1872-1880) present data indicating that a glycoproteomics approach can detect N-glycosylated membrane protein differences between non-HIV-infected and latently infected human CD4(+) T-cell lines, identifying 172 proteins differentially expressed by these cells. Latently infected CD4(+) T cells are thought to represent the major barrier to eventual HIV cure, but do not express detectable levels of viral protein and have not been shown to express biomarkers that can distinguish them from the vastly more abundant uninfected CD4(+) T-cell population. The findings of Yang et al. suggest that glycoproteomic analyses may have untapped potential to identify novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets in cell populations not readily distinguishable be standard proteomic analyses.