Host microtubules and motor proteins are crucial to the intracellular transport of a number of viruses. Disruption of microtubules or suppression of motor functions can remarkably inhibit the movement of viruses in host cells. It is now known that incoming viruses use motor proteins to travel along microtubules from the plasma membrane to the nuclear or perinuclear replication site, whereas progeny viruses depend on microtubules and motors to move from the assembly site to the cell periphery. Here, we describe several major methods for analyzing microtubule-mediated intracellular viral transport, using adenovirus as an example.
