PTPRN as a Radioligand Therapy Target
PTPRN, protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type N, is a cell-surface protein (membrane receptor). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, PTPRN staining is highest in neuroendocrine tumors (75% of samples positive). Published literature reports that PTPRN internalizes after ligand binding, which helps retain a radionuclide inside tumor cells. Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is PTPRN 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: Medium IHC staining in neuroendocrine tumors, 75% 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.
PTPRN expression in cancer
Protein expression of PTPRN 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 | 0.50 | Medium | 75% |
Not detected by IHC in: skin cancer, colorectal cancer, head and neck cancer, ovarian cancer, lymphoma, breast cancer, melanoma, kidney cancer, thyroid cancer, bladder cancer, cervical cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, gastric cancer, testicular cancer, endometrial cancer, glioma, liver cancer.
Is PTPRN internalized?
Yes. PTPRN recruits the NEDD4 Like E3 Ubiquitin Protein Ligase (NEDD4L) to NaV1.2 sodium channels, facilitating NEDD4L-mediated ubiquitination, and endocytosis of NaV1.2.
Sources: PMID 38874331. AI-extracted from abstracts, so verify before citing.
PTPRN clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for PTPRN yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for PTPRN trials.
PTPRN 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 PTPRN in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
PTPRN 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.