CSPG4 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
CSPG4, chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, CSPG4 staining is highest in testicular cancer (100% of samples positive), melanoma (100% of samples positive) and bladder cancer (100% of samples positive). Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is CSPG4 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 testicular 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.
CSPG4 expression in cancer
Protein expression of CSPG4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Testicular Cancer | 1.00 | High | 100% |
| Melanoma | 0.97 | High | 100% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.94 | High | 100% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.94 | High | 100% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.94 | High | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.92 | High | 100% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.91 | High | 100% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.88 | High | 100% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.81 | High | 100% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.80 | High | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.78 | High | 100% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.76 | High | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.75 | High | 100% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.75 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.75 | High | 92% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.70 | High | 100% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.64 | High | 100% |
| Glioma | 0.61 | High | 91% |
| Lymphoma | 0.53 | High | 100% |
Is CSPG4 internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for CSPG4. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
CSPG4 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for CSPG4 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for CSPG4 trials.
CSPG4 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 CSPG4 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
CSPG4 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1257 cancer cell lines: -0.15 (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 testicular cancer radioligand targets
HER3 (ERBB3) · c-MET (MET) · STEAP2 · KIT · SSTR2 · TMEFF2 · Mesothelin (MSLN) · HER2 (ERBB2)
See all radioligand therapy targets in testicular cancer.
See how CSPG4 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.