PNPLA7 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
PNPLA7, patatin like domain 7, lysophospholipase, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, PNPLA7 staining is highest in bladder cancer (100% of samples positive), thyroid cancer (100% of samples positive) and testicular cancer (100% of samples positive). Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is PNPLA7 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 bladder 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.
PNPLA7 expression in cancer
Protein expression of PNPLA7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bladder Cancer | 0.70 | High | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.64 | High | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.61 | High | 100% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.61 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.53 | High | 100% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.53 | High | 100% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.53 | High | 100% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.50 | Medium | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 100% |
| Glioma | 0.48 | Medium | 100% |
| Lymphoma | 0.47 | Medium | 100% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 100% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 67% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.40 | Medium | 100% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 100% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 100% |
| Melanoma | 0.39 | Medium | 100% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 88% |
Is PNPLA7 internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for PNPLA7. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
PNPLA7 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for PNPLA7 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for PNPLA7 trials.
PNPLA7 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 PNPLA7 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
PNPLA7 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1258 cancer cell lines: -0.12 (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 bladder cancer radioligand targets
EGFR · HER3 (ERBB3) · c-MET (MET) · SSTR2 · ITGAV · HER2 (ERBB2) · B7-H3 (CD276) · FAP
See all radioligand therapy targets in bladder cancer.
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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.