ABL1 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
ABL1, ABL proto-oncogene 1, non-receptor tyrosine kinase, is a cell-surface protein (RTK). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, ABL1 staining is highest in bladder cancer (100% of samples positive), breast cancer (100% of samples positive) and pancreatic cancer (100% of samples positive). Evidence on whether ABL1 internalizes is mixed. Clinical status: Clinical-stage (up to phase 3, any modality).
Is ABL1 a good radioligand therapy target?
Scored against the six criteria that decide whether a protein can become a radioligand therapy:
- ✅ Cell-surface accessibility: Localized to the cell surface, so a radioligand can reach it from circulation.
- ✅ Tumor expression: High IHC staining in bladder cancer, 100% of samples positive.
- ⚠️ Internalization: Mixed evidence.
- ✅ Clinical precedent: Clinical-stage (up to phase 3, any modality)
- ❔ Shedding: Not yet assessed.
- ❔ Normal-tissue dosimetry: Check kidney, liver, bone marrow and salivary expression in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas.
ABL1 expression in cancer
Protein expression of ABL1 across 20 cancer types from Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry. The score is a weighted staining intensity from 0 to 1; "% positive" is the share of patient samples with detectable staining.
| Cancer type | IHC score | Level | % positive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bladder Cancer | 0.64 | High | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.61 | High | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.61 | High | 100% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.56 | High | 92% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.56 | High | 92% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.53 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.53 | High | 83% |
| Melanoma | 0.50 | Medium | 100% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 92% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.47 | Medium | 92% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.47 | Medium | 83% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.36 | Medium | 75% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 100% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 83% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.30 | Medium | 64% |
| Glioma | 0.28 | Medium | 67% |
| Lymphoma | 0.25 | Medium | 67% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.25 | Medium | 25% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.17 | Low | 25% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.14 | Low | 42% |
Is ABL1 internalized?
Uncertain. The abstract discusses host kinases involved in the uptake of Leishmania by phagocytes but does not provide clear evidence that ABL1 itself is internalized or undergoes endocytosis.
Sources: PMID 39181505 · PMID 38798624 · PMID 37578596 · PMID 35388061 · PMID 34780648. AI-extracted from abstracts, so verify before citing.
ABL1 clinical trials
Clinical-stage (up to phase 3, any modality). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for ABL1 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for ABL1 trials.
ABL1 normal tissue expression
Normal-tissue expression in dose-limiting organs (kidney, liver, bone marrow, salivary glands) drives radioligand dosimetry risk. Nuclens is re-validating its normal-tissue values, so they are not shown here yet. See ABL1 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
ABL1 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1258 cancer cell lines: -0.03 (not essential). Radioligands kill by radiation, not by blocking the target, so essentiality matters less than for inhibitors. A non-essential target can still be an excellent radioligand target.
Related bladder cancer radioligand targets
EGFR · HER3 (ERBB3) · c-MET (MET) · SSTR2 · ITGAV · HER2 (ERBB2) · B7-H3 (CD276) · FAP
See all radioligand therapy targets in bladder cancer.
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Subcellular localization: UniProt via Open Targets (CC BY 4.0 / CC0). Tumor immunohistochemistry: Human Protein Atlas (CC BY-SA 4.0). Clinical trials: ClinicalTrials.gov (public domain). Gene essentiality: DepMap (CC BY 4.0). Internalization and shedding: AI-extracted from PubMed abstracts, so verify against the cited papers before relying on them. Nuclens is a first-pass triage layer, not a substitute for wet-lab validation or clinical dosimetry. Derived expression data on this page is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.