GRIK2 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
GRIK2, glutamate ionotropic receptor kainate type subunit 2, is a cell-surface protein (membrane receptor). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, GRIK2 staining is highest in pancreatic cancer (91% of samples positive), bladder cancer (91% of samples positive) and colorectal cancer (83% of samples positive). Evidence on whether GRIK2 internalizes is mixed. Clinical status: Clinical-stage (up to phase 2, any modality).
Is GRIK2 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: Medium IHC staining in pancreatic cancer, 91% of samples positive.
- ⚠️ Internalization: Mixed evidence.
- ✅ Clinical precedent: Clinical-stage (up to phase 2, any modality)
- ❔ Shedding: Not yet assessed.
- ❔ Normal-tissue dosimetry: Check kidney, liver, bone marrow and salivary expression in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas.
GRIK2 expression in cancer
Protein expression of GRIK2 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 | 0.48 | Medium | 91% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 91% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.31 | Medium | 83% |
| Lymphoma | 0.31 | Medium | 67% |
| Glioma | 0.28 | Medium | 67% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.23 | Medium | 70% |
| Melanoma | 0.19 | Low | 58% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.19 | Low | 58% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.19 | Low | 50% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.17 | Low | 50% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.17 | Low | 50% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.17 | Low | 33% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.15 | Low | 46% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.13 | Low | 20% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.09 | Low | 27% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.08 | Low | 25% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.08 | Low | 17% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.03 | Low | 9% |
Not detected by IHC in: kidney cancer, neuroendocrine tumors.
Is GRIK2 internalized?
Uncertain. Insufficient literature found.
GRIK2 clinical trials
Clinical-stage (up to phase 2, any modality). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for GRIK2 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for GRIK2 trials.
GRIK2 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 GRIK2 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
GRIK2 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1258 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 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 GRIK2 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.