PTPN13 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
PTPN13, protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 13, is a cell-surface protein (membrane receptor). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, PTPN13 staining is highest in testicular cancer (100% of samples positive), endometrial cancer (100% of samples positive) and neuroendocrine tumors (100% of samples positive). Published literature reports that PTPN13 internalizes after ligand binding, which helps retain a radionuclide inside tumor cells. Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is PTPN13 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 testicular cancer, 100% 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.
PTPN13 expression in cancer
Protein expression of PTPN13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Testicular Cancer | 0.97 | High | 100% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.94 | High | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.92 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.83 | High | 100% |
| Glioma | 0.83 | High | 100% |
| Lymphoma | 0.83 | High | 92% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.81 | High | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.75 | High | 100% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.75 | High | 92% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.70 | High | 91% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.69 | High | 92% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.64 | High | 91% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.58 | High | 83% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 100% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.44 | Medium | 92% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 83% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.36 | Medium | 67% |
| Melanoma | 0.31 | Medium | 58% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.22 | Medium | 50% |
Is PTPN13 internalized?
Yes. high expression of PTPN13 in iRPE cells endows them with an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-resistant capacity through dephosphorylating syntenin1, and subsequently promoting the internalization and degradation of transforming growth factor-β receptors.
Sources: PMID 36096985 · PMID 28601637. AI-extracted from abstracts, so verify before citing.
PTPN13 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for PTPN13 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for PTPN13 trials.
PTPN13 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 PTPN13 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
PTPN13 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 testicular cancer radioligand targets
HER3 (ERBB3) · c-MET (MET) · STEAP2 · KIT · SSTR2 · TMEFF2 · Mesothelin (MSLN) · HER2 (ERBB2)
See all radioligand therapy targets in testicular 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.