Franck Duong

Native Membrane Protein Biology and Proteomics

Membrane proteins carry out many of the cell’s most important functions, yet their hydrophobic nature makes them difficult to study outside the membrane. Our laboratory develops and applies approaches that preserve membrane proteins in native-like environments, allowing their structure, interactions and regulation to be investigated from individual proteins to entire membrane proteomes.

The laboratory pioneered the Peptidisc and subsequently developed Peptergent, peptide-based membrane mimetics that enable membrane proteins to be stabilized, extracted and analyzed while reducing reliance on conventional detergents. These technologies are now integrated with quantitative mass spectrometry, biochemical approaches and tissue models to investigate membrane protein biology at scale.

Native Membrane Proteomes and Protein Interaction Networks

We use Peptidisc-based workflows combined with quantitative mass spectrometry to capture membrane proteins and their interaction partners directly from biological membranes. These approaches enable proteome-wide investigation of membrane protein complexes and interaction networks while preserving associations that can be disrupted during conventional detergent extraction.

Tissue-Specific Membrane Biology and Disease Remodeling

Membrane proteomes differ substantially between tissues and are remodeled during disease. We investigate membrane proteins across tissues and disease models to determine how their abundance, organization and interactions change, with particular interest in identifying membrane pathways and molecular signatures associated with disease.

Membrane Protein Regulation and Ligand Interactions

Membrane proteins are regulated by their surrounding chemical environment. We combine native membrane protein preparations with mass spectrometry-based approaches to investigate how lipids, metabolites, small molecules and other ligands influence membrane protein stability, interactions and function.

Technology Development for Native Membrane Protein Research

We continue to develop Peptidisc, Peptergent and complementary approaches for membrane protein extraction, stabilization, enrichment and analysis. These technologies support applications ranging from biochemical and functional studies to interaction mapping, quantitative membrane proteomics and drug discovery.