TENM2 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
TENM2, teneurin transmembrane protein 2, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, TENM2 staining is highest in melanoma (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 TENM2 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 melanoma, 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.
TENM2 expression in cancer
Protein expression of TENM2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melanoma | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.67 | High | 100% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.61 | High | 100% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 92% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.50 | Medium | 92% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.47 | Medium | 100% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.47 | Medium | 92% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.47 | Medium | 83% |
| Lymphoma | 0.44 | Medium | 83% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.42 | Medium | 100% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 82% |
| Glioma | 0.39 | Medium | 82% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 75% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 91% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.31 | Medium | 75% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.31 | Medium | 75% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.31 | Medium | 67% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.22 | Medium | 67% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.22 | Medium | 50% |
Is TENM2 internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for TENM2. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
TENM2 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for TENM2 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for TENM2 trials.
TENM2 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 TENM2 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
TENM2 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 80 cancer cell lines: -0.10 (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 melanoma radioligand targets
HER3 (ERBB3) · c-MET (MET) · STEAP2 · SSTR2 · B7-H3 (CD276) · ITGAV · TMEFF2 · FAP
See all radioligand therapy targets in melanoma.
See how TENM2 ranks against 15,000 targets for your indication.
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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.