Drug rescue distinguishes between different structural models of human P-glycoprotein.

There is no high-resolution crystal structure of the human P-glycoprotein (P-gp) drug pump. Homology models of human P-gp based on the crystal structures of mouse or Caenorhabditis elegans P-gps show large differences in the orientation of transmembrane segment 5 (TM5). TM5 is one of the most important transmembrane segments involved in drug-substrate interactions. Drug rescue of P-gp processing mutants containing an arginine at each position in TM5 was used to identify positions facing the lipid or internal aqueous chamber. Only the model based on the C. elegans P-gp structure was compatible with the drug rescue results.