ROBO2 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
ROBO2, roundabout guidance receptor 2, is a cell-surface protein (membrane receptor). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, ROBO2 staining is highest in colorectal cancer (100% of samples positive), glioma (73% of samples positive) and ovarian cancer (92% of samples positive). Evidence on whether ROBO2 internalizes is mixed. Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is ROBO2 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: Mixed evidence.
- ⚠️ 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.
ROBO2 expression in cancer
Protein expression of ROBO2 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 | 0.61 | High | 100% |
| Glioma | 0.55 | High | 73% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.53 | High | 92% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.47 | Medium | 92% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.43 | Medium | 80% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 92% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 75% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 75% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 83% |
| Melanoma | 0.36 | Medium | 82% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.36 | Medium | 55% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.36 | Medium | 92% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.27 | Medium | 73% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.25 | Medium | 58% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.24 | Medium | 55% |
| Lymphoma | 0.19 | Low | 42% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.18 | Low | 55% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.14 | Low | 33% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.08 | Low | 25% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.06 | Low | 18% |
Is ROBO2 internalized?
Uncertain. Insufficient literature found.
ROBO2 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for ROBO2 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for ROBO2 trials.
ROBO2 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 ROBO2 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
ROBO2 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1245 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 colorectal cancer radioligand targets
c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · FAP · EGFR · CEA (CEACAM5) · EPCAM · SSTR2 · STEAP2
See all radioligand therapy targets in colorectal 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.