ATP6AP2 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
ATP6AP2, ATPase H+ transporting accessory protein 2, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, ATP6AP2 staining is highest in head and neck cancer (100% of samples positive), testicular cancer (100% of samples positive) and lymphoma (100% of samples positive). Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is ATP6AP2 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 head and neck cancer, 100% of samples positive.
- ❔ Internalization: Not yet assessed.
- ⚠️ Clinical precedent: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program)
- ❔ Shedding: Not yet assessed.
- ❔ Normal-tissue dosimetry: Check kidney, liver, bone marrow and salivary expression in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas.
ATP6AP2 expression in cancer
Protein expression of ATP6AP2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.83 | High | 100% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.76 | High | 100% |
| Lymphoma | 0.72 | High | 100% |
| Melanoma | 0.69 | High | 100% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.69 | High | 100% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Glioma | 0.64 | High | 100% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.61 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.58 | High | 92% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.55 | High | 100% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.55 | High | 100% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.53 | High | 92% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 100% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 64% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 100% |
Is ATP6AP2 internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for ATP6AP2. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
ATP6AP2 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for ATP6AP2 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for ATP6AP2 trials.
ATP6AP2 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 ATP6AP2 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
ATP6AP2 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1258 cancer cell lines: -0.99 (essential, below −0.5). 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 head and neck cancer radioligand targets
EGFR · c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · ITGAV · SSTR2 · B7-H3 (CD276) · STEAP2 · Mesothelin (MSLN)
See all radioligand therapy targets in head and neck cancer.
See how ATP6AP2 ranks against 15,000 targets for your indication.
Run a free analysisData sources
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.