HAPLN3 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
HAPLN3, hyaluronan and proteoglycan link protein 3, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, HAPLN3 staining is highest in neuroendocrine tumors (100% of samples positive), colorectal cancer (100% of samples positive) and kidney cancer (100% of samples positive). Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is HAPLN3 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 neuroendocrine tumors, 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.
HAPLN3 expression in cancer
Protein expression of HAPLN3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.83 | High | 100% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.70 | High | 100% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.69 | High | 100% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.64 | High | 100% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.64 | High | 100% |
| Glioma | 0.60 | High | 100% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.58 | High | 91% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.57 | High | 90% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.56 | High | 92% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 92% |
| Melanoma | 0.41 | Medium | 89% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 73% |
| Lymphoma | 0.36 | Medium | 75% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.24 | Medium | 55% |
Is HAPLN3 internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for HAPLN3. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
HAPLN3 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for HAPLN3 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for HAPLN3 trials.
HAPLN3 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 HAPLN3 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
HAPLN3 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1258 cancer cell lines: -0.01 (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 neuroendocrine tumors radioligand targets
HER3 (ERBB3) · c-MET (MET) · SSTR2 · STEAP2 · EPCAM · ITGB6 · KIT · FAP
See all radioligand therapy targets in neuroendocrine tumors.
See how HAPLN3 ranks against 15,000 targets for your indication.
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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.