TMEFF2 as a Radioligand Therapy Target
TMEFF2, transmembrane protein with EGF like and two follistatin like domains 2, is a cell-surface protein. In Human Protein Atlas immunohistochemistry, TMEFF2 staining is highest in thyroid cancer (100% of samples positive), melanoma (92% of samples positive) and prostate cancer (92% of samples positive). Clinical status: Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program).
Is TMEFF2 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 thyroid 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.
TMEFF2 expression in cancer
Protein expression of TMEFF2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thyroid Cancer | 0.58 | High | 100% |
| Melanoma | 0.58 | High | 92% |
| Prostate Cancer | 0.53 | High | 92% |
| Breast Cancer | 0.44 | Medium | 83% |
| Cervical Cancer | 0.44 | Medium | 75% |
| Head and Neck Cancer | 0.42 | Medium | 100% |
| Liver Cancer | 0.39 | Medium | 67% |
| Testicular Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 80% |
| Ovarian Cancer | 0.33 | Medium | 75% |
| Neuroendocrine Tumors | 0.33 | Medium | 50% |
| Colorectal Cancer | 0.31 | Medium | 67% |
| Lymphoma | 0.31 | Medium | 50% |
| Lung Cancer | 0.30 | Medium | 64% |
| Gastric Cancer | 0.30 | Medium | 55% |
| Bladder Cancer | 0.28 | Medium | 75% |
| Endometrial Cancer | 0.28 | Medium | 58% |
| Skin Cancer | 0.27 | Medium | 55% |
| Pancreatic Cancer | 0.25 | Medium | 67% |
| Glioma | 0.25 | Medium | 50% |
| Kidney Cancer | 0.11 | Low | 25% |
Is TMEFF2 internalized?
Nuclens has not yet extracted internalization evidence for TMEFF2. Internalization matters for radioligands because an internalizing receptor traps the radionuclide inside the tumor cell. Run a full analysis to pull the latest literature.
TMEFF2 clinical trials
Discovery-stage (no clinical drug program). Nuclens hasn't indexed trials for TMEFF2 yet. Search ClinicalTrials.gov for TMEFF2 trials.
TMEFF2 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 TMEFF2 in the Human Protein Atlas tissue atlas, and read how normal-tissue expression predicts radioligand dosimetry risk.
TMEFF2 gene essentiality (DepMap)
CRISPR knockout effect across 1242 cancer cell lines: 0.02 (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 thyroid cancer radioligand targets
c-MET (MET) · HER3 (ERBB3) · EPCAM · SSTR2 · EGFR · ITGAV · STEAP2 · FAP
See all radioligand therapy targets in thyroid 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.