NR3C2 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
NR3C2, nuclear receptor subfamily 3 group C member 2, is a cell-surface protein (membrane receptor). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, NR3C2 staining is highest in neuroendocrine tumors (100% of samples positive), colorectal cancer (100% of samples positive) and testicular cancer (100% of samples positive). Evidence on whether NR3C2 internalizes is mixed. Clinical status: Clinical-stage (up to phase 2, any modality).
Is NR3C2 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: 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.
NR3C2 expression in cancer
Protein expression of NR3C2 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 | 1.00 | High | 100% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.97 | High | 100% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.89 | High | 100% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.89 | High | 100% |
| Melanoma | 0.87 | High | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.86 | High | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.83 | High | 100% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.83 | High | 100% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.82 | High | 100% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.82 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.80 | High | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.80 | High | 100% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.79 | High | 100% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.78 | High | 100% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.78 | High | 100% |
| Glioma | 0.75 | High | 100% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.72 | High | 100% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.69 | High | 100% |
| Lymphoma | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.64 | High | 100% |
Is NR3C2 internalized?
Uncertain. Insufficient literature found.
NR3C2 clinical trials
Clinical-stage (up to phase 2, any modality). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for NR3C2 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for NR3C2 trials.
NR3C2 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 NR3C2 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
NR3C2 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1258 cancer cell lines: 0.04 (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.
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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.