GCNT3 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
GCNT3, glucosaminyl (N-acetyl) transferase 3, mucin type, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, GCNT3 staining is highest in pancreatic cancer (100% of samples positive), colorectal cancer (100% of samples positive) and gastric cancer (100% of samples positive). Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is GCNT3 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 pancreatic 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.
GCNT3 expression in cancer
Protein expression of GCNT3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.78 | High | 100% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.69 | High | 100% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.63 | High | 100% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.52 | High | 91% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.47 | Medium | 58% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.46 | Medium | 82% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.44 | Medium | 92% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 91% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 83% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.33 | Medium | 75% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.30 | Medium | 64% |
| Melanoma | 0.30 | Medium | 55% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.27 | Medium | 73% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.17 | Low | 50% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.15 | Low | 27% |
| Glioma | 0.03 | Low | 8% |
Not detected by IHC in: skin cancer, lymphoma.
Is GCNT3 internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for GCNT3. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
GCNT3 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for GCNT3 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for GCNT3 trials.
GCNT3 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 GCNT3 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
GCNT3 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1255 cancer cell lines: -0.08 (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 pancreatic cancer radioligand targets
EGFR · HER3 (ERBB3) · c-MET (MET) · Mesothelin (MSLN) · FAP · CEA (CEACAM5) · STEAP2 · SSTR2
See all radioligand therapy targets in pancreatic cancer.
See how GCNT3 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.