MEP1A as a Radioligand Therapy Target
MEP1A, meprin A subunit alpha, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, MEP1A staining is highest in colorectal cancer (100% of samples positive), pancreatic cancer (100% of samples positive) and lung cancer (100% of samples positive). Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is MEP1A 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: 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.
MEP1A expression in cancer
Protein expression of MEP1A 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 | 0.61 | High | 100% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.56 | High | 100% |
| Melanoma | 0.48 | Medium | 91% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.47 | Medium | 92% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.47 | Medium | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 91% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 92% |
| Lymphoma | 0.42 | Medium | 83% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 75% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 100% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 91% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.33 | Medium | 75% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.31 | Medium | 83% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.31 | Medium | 83% |
| Glioma | 0.31 | Medium | 83% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.31 | Medium | 67% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.28 | Medium | 75% |
Is MEP1A internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for MEP1A. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
MEP1A clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for MEP1A yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for MEP1A trials.
MEP1A 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 MEP1A in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
MEP1A gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1233 cancer cell lines: 0.05 (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.
See how MEP1A 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.