ST3GAL1 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
ST3GAL1, ST3 beta-galactoside alpha-2,3-sialyltransferase 1, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, ST3GAL1 staining is highest in liver cancer (100% of samples positive), ovarian cancer (100% of samples positive) and breast cancer (100% of samples positive). Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is ST3GAL1 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 liver 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.
ST3GAL1 expression in cancer
Protein expression of ST3GAL1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liver Cancer | 0.92 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.89 | High | 100% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.85 | High | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.83 | High | 100% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.81 | High | 100% |
| Melanoma | 0.79 | High | 100% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.78 | High | 100% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.76 | High | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.76 | High | 100% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.70 | High | 100% |
| Lymphoma | 0.69 | High | 100% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.69 | High | 100% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.63 | High | 100% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.58 | High | 92% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.52 | High | 100% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 100% |
| Glioma | 0.44 | Medium | 83% |
Is ST3GAL1 internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for ST3GAL1. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
ST3GAL1 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for ST3GAL1 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for ST3GAL1 trials.
ST3GAL1 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 ST3GAL1 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
ST3GAL1 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1257 cancer cell lines: -0.27 (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 liver cancer radioligand targets
EGFR · c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · SSTR2 · STEAP2 · HER2 (ERBB2) · Mesothelin (MSLN) · B7-H3 (CD276)
See all radioligand therapy targets in liver cancer.
See how ST3GAL1 ranks against 15,000 targets for your indication.
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.