TLR3 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
TLR3, toll like receptor 3, is a cell-surface protein (membrane receptor). In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, TLR3 staining is highest in kidney cancer (100% of samples positive), thyroid cancer (100% of samples positive) and pancreatic cancer (91% of samples positive). Evidence on whether TLR3 internalizes is mixed. Clinical status: Clinical-stage (up to phase 3, any modality).
Is TLR3 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 kidney cancer, 100% of samples positive.
- ⚠️ Internalization: Mixed evidence.
- ✅ Clinical precedent: Clinical-stage (up to phase 3, any modality)
- ❔ Shedding: Not yet assessed.
- ❔ Normal-tissue dosimetry: Check kidney, liver, bone marrow and salivary expression in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas.
TLR3 expression in cancer
Protein expression of TLR3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kidney Cancer | 0.69 | High | 100% |
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.52 | High | 91% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.48 | Medium | 91% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 83% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.36 | Medium | 75% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 73% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.31 | Medium | 58% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.30 | Medium | 73% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.28 | Medium | 67% |
| Melanoma | 0.21 | Medium | 46% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.20 | Medium | 50% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.19 | Low | 42% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.17 | Low | 50% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.17 | Low | 40% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.17 | Low | 25% |
| Glioma | 0.15 | Low | 27% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.06 | Low | 17% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.06 | Low | 17% |
Not detected by IHC in: lymphoma.
Is TLR3 internalized?
Uncertain. Insufficient literature found.
Sources: PMID 41924269 · PMID 40617350 · PMID 40455858 · PMID 39990207 · PMID 39840913. AI-extracted from abstracts, so verify before citing.
TLR3 clinical trials
Clinical-stage (up to phase 3, any modality). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for TLR3 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for TLR3 trials.
TLR3 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 TLR3 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
TLR3 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1255 cancer cell lines: 0.14 (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 kidney cancer radioligand targets
EGFR · c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · STEAP2 · ITGAV · Mesothelin (MSLN) · SSTR2 · HER2 (ERBB2)
See all radioligand therapy targets in kidney 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.