Jean-Luc POPOT's background is in biochemistry and biophysics, with a marked interest for physical chemistry. Since he entered research, his work has focused on integral membrane proteins, with two major types of research:
i) Understanding the structure and function of some specific proteins, mainly the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, bacteriorhodopsin, the major proteolipid from myelin (PLP) and cytochrome b6f ;
ii) Developing general methods or concepts, applicable to most if not all integral membrane proteins, in particular understanding the mechanisms that determine the folding, assembly and stability of those membrane proteins whose transmembrane domain is made up of α-helices; exploring new methods of sequence analysis; and developing novel chemical tools for handling and/or studying membrane proteins, in particular two families of surfactants, fluorinated surfactants and amphiphilic polymers ('amphipols').
His current work focuses on developing amphipols and their applications.
Laboratoire de Biologie Physico-Chimique des Protéines Membranaires UMR 7099 - IBPC
13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie F-75005 Paris, France
Mail : jean-luc.popot(at)ibpc.fr
Lab Web page: http://www.ibpc.fr/UMR7099/
Personal Web page: http://www.ibpc.fr/popot/
Amphipol Web page: http://www.ibpc.fr/popot/amphipol/