LRP4 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
LRP4, LDL receptor related protein 4, is a cell-surface protein (membrane receptor). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, LRP4 staining is highest in colorectal cancer (100% of samples positive), pancreatic cancer (100% of samples positive) and prostate cancer (100% of samples positive). Evidence on whether LRP4 internalizes is mixed. Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is LRP4 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 colorectal cancer, 100% of samples positive.
- ⚠️ Internalization: Mixed evidence.
- ⚠️ 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.
LRP4 expression in cancer
Protein expression of LRP4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.61 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.61 | High | 100% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.58 | High | 92% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.56 | High | 100% |
| Melanoma | 0.56 | High | 92% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.56 | High | 92% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.53 | High | 83% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 100% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 90% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.43 | Medium | 80% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.42 | Medium | 75% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 82% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.36 | Medium | 75% |
| Lymphoma | 0.28 | Medium | 50% |
| Glioma | 0.21 | Medium | 46% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.06 | Low | 18% |
Is LRP4 internalized?
Uncertain. Insufficient literature found.
Sources: PMID 42265108 · PMID 36311763 · PMID 36303053 · PMID 35370548 · PMID 34934570. AI-extracted from abstracts, so verify before citing.
LRP4 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for LRP4 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for LRP4 trials.
LRP4 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 LRP4 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
LRP4 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1258 cancer cell lines: -0.18 (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 colorectal cancer radioligand targets
c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · FAP · EGFR · CEA (CEACAM5) · EPCAM · SSTR2 · STEAP2
See all radioligand therapy targets in colorectal cancer.
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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.