Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40240353›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Cryo-EM of human P-glycoprotein reveals an intermediate occluded conformation during active drug transport.

Alan T Culbertson, Maofu Liao

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. The Antidepressant Drug Clomipramine Inhibits the ABC Transporter BmrA.Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. A dual sensor regulates P-glycoprotein's structural plasticity.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
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  11. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Alan T CulbertsonDepartment of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Maofu LiaoDepartment of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. liaomf@sustech.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3481-450X

Funding

Structure of Sphingosine 1-phosphate ReceptorsF32GM136092 · NIGMS · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · PI CULBERTSON, ALAN THOMAS · 2020 to 2021
$131k
NIGMS NIH HHS F32 GM136092U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) F32GM136092
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

P-glycoprotein (Pgp) is an important human multidrug transporter that contributes to pharmacokinetics and multidrug resistance. Despite decades of study, the conformation transition cycle of Pgp undergoing active drug transport is not defined, thus the precise relevance of all available Pgp structures to uninterrupted multidrug transport remains unclear. Here, we use cryo-EM of membrane-embedded human Pgp under continuous turnover conditions to analyze the conformational ensembles of Pgp transporting distinct substrates. These results delineate multiple conformations including inward-facing and closed conformations, highlighting the occluded conformation as a critical intermediate state between transporter closure and substrate release. A combination of structural, functional, and computational studies reveals the transmembrane helices 4 and 10 undergoing drastic rearrangement to coordinate substrate binding, occlusion, and release, and identifies a peripheral site involved in substrate capture and Pgp inhibition. Together, our results provide a set of snapshots of Pgp undergoing continuous drug transport, unveiling the intricate interplay between transporter dynamics and drug movement, and shed light on the mechanism of polyspecificity.

Indexed as

ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily BATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1Biological TransportBiological Transport, ActiveCryoelectron MicroscopyHumansModels, MolecularProtein ConformationATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily BATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1

Identifiers

PMID40240353
PMCPMC12003890

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.