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Protein / target

CD27 antigen

Encoded byCD27P26842Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinical-stage
Therapeutic maturity
1
Clinical candidates
Antibody-tractable
Druggability
Advanced Clinical
1
Research papers

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Transmembrane signaling receptor

Strongest disease association

Severe Combined Immunodeficiency

Via encoding gene CD27 · Genetic literature evidence · score 0.76

Therapeutic position

Clinically advancing target

Antibodies

Research activity

Emerging research

1 papers · latest 1997

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

Costimulatory immune-checkpoint receptor expressed at the surface of T-cells, NK-cells and B-cells which binds to and is activated by its ligand CD70/CD27L expressed by B-cells.

View complete UniProt function annotation

Costimulatory immune-checkpoint receptor expressed at the surface of T-cells, NK-cells and B-cells which binds to and is activated by its ligand CD70/CD27L expressed by B-cells (PubMed:28011863). The CD70-CD27 signaling pathway mediates antigen-specific T-cell activation and expansion which in turn provides immune surveillance of B-cells (PubMed:28011863). Mechanistically, CD70 ligation activates the TRAF2-PTPN6 axis that subsequently inhibits LCK phosphorylation to promote phenotypic and transcriptional adaptations of T-cell memory (PubMed:38354704). In addition, activation by CD70 on early progenitor cells provides a negative feedback signal to leukocyte differentiation during immune activation and thus modulates hematopoiesis (By similarity). Negatively regulates the function of Th2 lymphocytes in the adipose tissue (By similarity)

Subcellular location

Cell membrane
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (16)

Gene Ontology

  • Cexternal side of plasma membrane
  • Cextracellular region
  • Cplasma membrane
  • Fcysteine-type endopeptidase inhibitor activity involved in apoptotic process
  • Ftransmembrane signaling receptor activity
  • Padaptive immune memory response involving T cells and B cells
  • PCD27 signaling pathway
  • Pcell surface receptor signaling pathway
  • Pextrinsic apoptotic signaling pathway
  • Pimmunoglobulin mediated immune response
  • Pnegative regulation of apoptotic process
  • Ppositive regulation of B cell differentiation

260 aa · 29 kDa

Biological roles

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

Immune signallingUniProt · GOApoptosis & cell deathGO
View supporting evidence

Immune signalling

  • ·Costimulatory immune-checkpoint receptor expressed at the surface of T-cells, NK-cells a…
  • ·adaptive immune memory response involving T cells and B cells
  • ·immunoglobulin mediated immune response
  • ·positive regulation of B cell differentiation

Apoptosis & cell death

  • ·cysteine-type endopeptidase inhibitor activity involved in apoptotic process
  • ·negative regulation of apoptotic process

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

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 CD27

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene CD27 that 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.

Severe Combined Immunodeficiency
0.61Moderately supported

Genetic literature evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.46

Genetic Diseases, Inborn
0.32Limited support

Genetic evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.19

Neurodegenerative Diseases
0.25Preliminary

Pathway evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.38 · no direct causal or clinical evidence

View evidence synthesis (3)
Severe Combined ImmunodeficiencyModerately supported
0.61
agreement 0.460.76
Genetic literature98%Literature2%

Open Targets aggregate 0.46 · 2 independent evidence families

Genetic Diseases, InbornLimited support
0.32
agreement 0.180.45
Genetic99%Literature1%

Open Targets aggregate 0.19 · 2 independent evidence families

Neurodegenerative DiseasesPreliminary
0.25
agreement 0.020.48
Pathway100%

Open Targets aggregate 0.38 · 1 independent evidence family · no direct causal or clinical evidence

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
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency0.46
Neurodegenerative Diseases0.38
Genetic Diseases, Inborn0.19

Drug development

1 compounds recorded · 1 in clinical development

Open Targets' development universe — every compound recorded against the target at any stage, not all approved medicines.

View all recorded compounds (1)
VARLILUMABPhase 2

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

Advanced Clinical and UniProt loc high conf support this modality.

Protein degradersEmerging

Feasibility evidence (database ubiquitination) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

View underlying tractability evidence (5)
AB · Advanced ClinicalAB · UniProt loc high confAB · GO CC high confAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMMPR · Database Ubiquitination

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

Research activity

1 papers · to 1997

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

Most cited

Hamann D · The Journal of experimental medicine · 1997

Recent

Phenotypic and functional separation of memory and effector human CD8+ T cells.

Hamann D · The Journal of experimental medicine · 1997

Europe PMC papers linked directly to this protein.