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Protein / target

Lymphocyte activation gene 3 protein

Encoded byLAG3P18627Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
1
Approved medicines
Open Targets target-level
30
Clinical trials
Antibody-tractable
Druggability
Approved Drug

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Transmembrane signaling receptor

Primary biology

Adaptive immune signalling

Strongest disease association

Melanoma

Via encoding gene LAG3 · Clinical evidence · score 0.59

Therapeutic position

Established drug target

Antibodies

Research activity

Emerging research

4 papers · latest 2024

Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.

Protein profile

UniProt 2026_02

Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.

Function overview

Inhibitory receptor on antigen activated T-cells.

View complete UniProt function annotation

Inhibitory receptor on antigen activated T-cells (PubMed:20421648, PubMed:35761082, PubMed:7805750, PubMed:8647185). Delivers inhibitory signals upon binding to ligands, such as MHC class II, its main ligand present at the surface of antigen-presenting cells (APCs), and FGL1, which is secreted by hepatocytes and certain types of tumor cells (PubMed:30580966, PubMed:32920841, PubMed:35761082, PubMed:39671469, PubMed:7589152, PubMed:8647185, PubMed:9159144). Ligand-binding initiates a signaling that inhibits the T-cell receptor (TCR) in the immunological synapse, preventing T-cell activation (PubMed:40101708). Mechanistically, ligand-binding promotes (1) ubiquitination of the KIEELE motif, unleashing the RRFSALE motif from the membrane and (2) leading to the formation of condensates with the TCR component CD3E, thereby disrupting the association between CD3E and LCK and preventing TCR activation (PubMed:40101708, PubMed:40592325). May inhibit antigen-specific T-cell activation in synergy with PDCD1/PD-1 (By similarity). Negatively regulates the proliferation, activation, effector function and homeostasis of both CD8(+) and CD4(+) T-cells (PubMed:20421648, PubMed:7805750, PubMed:8647185). Also mediates immune tolerance: constitutively expressed on a subset of regulatory T-cells (Tregs) and contributes to their suppressive function (By similarity). Also acts as a negative regulator of plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDCs) activation (By similarity)

Subcellular location

Cell membraneSecreted
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (19)

Domains & features

Ig-like V-typeIg-like C2-type 1Ig-like C2-type 2Ig-like C2-type 3

Gene Ontology

  • Ccell surface
  • Cexternal side of plasma membrane
  • Cextracellular region
  • Cplasma membrane
  • Fantigen binding
  • FMHC class II protein binding
  • Ftransmembrane signaling receptor activity
  • Padaptive immune response
  • Pcell surface receptor signaling pathway
  • Pnegative regulation of regulatory T cell differentiation
  • Pnegative regulation of T cell activation
  • Pnegative regulation of T cell mediated immune response to tumor cell

525 aa · 57 kDa · 2 isoforms

Biological roles

Reactome v97

What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.

Immune signallingUniProt · GO · Reactome
View supporting evidence

Immune signalling

  • ·Inhibitory receptor on antigen activated T-cells (PubMed:20421648, PubMed:35761082, PubM…
  • ·antigen binding
  • ·adaptive immune response
  • ·negative regulation of regulatory T cell differentiation
View underlying pathways (1)

Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.

Interaction neighbourhood

STRING v12.0

Proteins with the strongest functional or physical association. Node size and line weight reflect STRING confidence; hover or select a partner to inspect one association.

LGALS9CLEC4GLGALS9CFGL1LGALS9BCD80LGALS3CD86CD274CTLA4LAG3

10 strongest partners — larger node and heavier line mean higher confidence

Functional and physical associations from STRING v12.0. Only associations with this protein are drawn — partner-to-partner links are not part of this evidence.

Drugs targeting this protein

1

How approved and investigational drugs engage this protein — mechanism and action type, direct vs complex targeting, and how broadly each acts across other targets. A drug-first view (the section above groups the approved ones disease-first); direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.

relatlimab
Narrow target profileApprovedInhibitor

Lymphocyte activation gene 3 protein inhibitor

Direct interaction with this protein · Only this protein recorded as a target

ChEMBL mechanism, action type, target identity and approved indications. Open Targets clinical status.

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically, strongest evidence first. Disease associations are gene-level (via the gene that encodes this protein) and open into the full confidence synthesis; the development universe, tractability and safety annotations are target-level, from Open Targets.

Strongest disease associations · via encoding gene LAG3

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene LAG3that encodes this protein — not a direct protein–disease relationship. Ranked by Forefront's causal-directness weighting, so genetically- and clinically-evidenced diseases lead over ones that merely share the literature.

Melanoma
0.74Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.59

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung
0.51Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.39

Colorectal Neoplasms
0.45Limited support

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.35

Breast Neoplasms
0.35Limited support

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.23

Stomach Neoplasms
0.35Limited support

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.24

View evidence synthesis (5)
MelanomaModerately supported
0.74
agreement 0.580.89
Clinical84%Literature16%

Open Targets aggregate 0.59 · 2 independent evidence families

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell LungModerately supported
0.51
agreement 0.350.67
Clinical82%Literature18%

Open Targets aggregate 0.39 · 2 independent evidence families

Colorectal NeoplasmsLimited support
0.45
agreement 0.300.61
Clinical90%Literature10%

Open Targets aggregate 0.35 · 2 independent evidence families

Breast NeoplasmsLimited support
0.35
agreement 0.200.51
Clinical66%Literature34%

Open Targets aggregate 0.23 · 2 independent evidence families

Stomach NeoplasmsLimited support
0.35
agreement 0.200.51
Clinical72%Literature28%

Open Targets aggregate 0.24 · 2 independent evidence families

The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the per-type scores above show the calculation.

Show all associations
Melanoma0.59
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung0.39
Colorectal Neoplasms0.35
Metastatic colorectal cancer0.27
Stomach Neoplasms0.24
Breast Neoplasms0.23
Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck0.23
Gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma0.22
Urinary bladder carcinoma0.21

Drug development

6 compounds recorded · 1 approved · 5 in clinical development

Open Targets' development universe — every compound recorded against the target at any stage, not all approved medicines. Distinct from the 1 drug that targets this protein in Forefront's canonical graph: these count different sets and are not a subset relation.

View all recorded compounds (6)
FIANLIMABPhase 3
EFTILAGIMOD ALFAPhase 3
IERAMILIMABPhase 2
FAVEZELIMABPhase 3
RELATLIMABApproval
TEBOTELIMABPhase 2 3

Open Targets known-drugs universe. Drug name and highest clinical stage only — the disease relationship is NOT read from this slice (it carries trial-context noise); approved indications come from the canonical graph above.

Tractability

AntibodiesStrong

Approved Drug and UniProt loc high conf support this modality.

Other modalitiesStrong

Advanced Clinical support this modality.

View underlying tractability evidence (6)
AB · Approved DrugAB · UniProt loc high confAB · GO CC high confAB · UniProt loc med confAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMMOC · Advanced Clinical

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

Clinical trials

30

Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein. Ranked by active status, then clinical phase and recency, and spread across the targeting drugs.

View all trials (26)

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING · via relatlimab · NCT05347212

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING · via relatlimab · NCT02465060

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

What's happening now

1

Recent therapeutic activity around this target — regulatory actions, clinical trials and safety signals for a drug that targets this protein, plus publications where such a drug is a genuine subject. Every item is reached indirectly through the drug, not the protein itself; incidental mentions (a paper that merely measures a drug) and press items are excluded.

  1. New publication2022-10-26
    Neoadjuvant relatlimab and nivolumab in resectable melanoma.

    Nature · 2022 · 240 citations · Europe PMC · via relatlimab

Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.

Research activity

4 papers · to 2024

Papers linked directly to this protein. This is the protein's own literature — descriptor-derived papers are kept separate below.

Most cited

Recent

Europe PMC papers linked directly to this protein.