LRP1B as a Radioligand Therapy Target
LRP1B, LDL receptor related protein 1B, is a cell-surface protein (membrane receptor). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, LRP1B staining is highest in liver cancer (73% of samples positive), thyroid cancer (100% of samples positive) and ovarian cancer (82% of samples positive). Published literature reports that LRP1B internalizes after ligand binding, which helps retain a radionuclide inside tumor cells. Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is LRP1B 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 liver cancer, 73% of samples positive.
- ✅ Internalization: Reported to internalize, which favors radionuclide retention.
- ⚠️ 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.
LRP1B expression in cancer
Protein expression of LRP1B 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liver Cancer | 0.64 | High | 73% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 82% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.27 | Medium | 73% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.25 | Medium | 50% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.21 | Medium | 46% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.17 | Low | 40% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.11 | Low | 33% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.11 | Low | 33% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.08 | Low | 25% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.06 | Low | 18% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.06 | Low | 18% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.06 | Low | 17% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.03 | Low | 10% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.03 | Low | 8% |
Not detected by IHC in: head and neck cancer, lymphoma, melanoma, neuroendocrine tumors, glioma.
Is LRP1B internalized?
Yes. LRP1B mediates endocytosis of several factors from the cellular environment including liposomes.
Sources: PMID 34689147 · PMID 33389427 · PMID 23553203 · PMID 21420681 · PMID 17658514. AI-extracted from abstracts, so verify before citing.
LRP1B clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for LRP1B yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for LRP1B trials.
LRP1B 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 LRP1B in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
LRP1B gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1250 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 liver cancer radioligand targets
EGFR · c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · SSTR2 · STEAP2 · HER2 (ERBB2) · Mesothelin (MSLN) · B7-H3 (CD276)
See all radioligand therapy targets in liver cancer.
See how LRP1B 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.