Protein / target

Proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase receptor Ret

RETP07949Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
12
Approved medicines
30
Clinical trials
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Approved Drug

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Transmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase activity

Primary system

Nervous system

Strongest disease association

multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A

Genetic evidence · score 0.94

Therapeutic maturity

Clinically validated target

12 approved medicines against this target

Druggability

Small molecule

Open Targets tractability · Approved Drug

Clinical development

12 approved · 4 in clinical development

30 linked trials

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

Receptor tyrosine-protein kinase involved in numerous cellular mechanisms including cell proliferation, neuronal navigation, cell migration, and cell differentiation in response to glia cell line-derived growth family factors (GDNF, NRTN, ARTN, PSPN and GDF15) (PubMed:20064382, PubMed:20616503, PubMed:20702524, PubMed:21357690, PubMed:21454698, PubMed:24560924, PubMed:28846097, PubMed:28846099, PubMed:28953886, PubMed:31118272). In contrast to most receptor tyrosine kinases, RET requires not only its cognate ligands but also coreceptors, for activation (PubMed:21994944, PubMed:23333276, PubMed:28846097, PubMed:28846099, PubMed:28953886). GDNF ligands (GDNF, NRTN, ARTN, PSPN and GDF15) first bind their corresponding GDNFR coreceptors (GFRA1, GFRA2, GFRA3, GFRA4 and GFRAL, respectively), triggering RET autophosphorylation and activation, leading to activation of downstream signaling pathways, including the MAPK- and AKT-signaling pathways (PubMed:21994944, PubMed:23333276, PubMed:24560924, PubMed:25242331, PubMed:28846097, PubMed:28846099, PubMed:28953886). Acts as a dependence receptor via the GDNF-GFRA1 signaling: in the presence of the ligand GDNF in somatotrophs within pituitary, promotes survival and down regulates growth hormone (GH) production, but triggers apoptosis in absence of GDNF (PubMed:20616503, PubMed:21994944). Required for the molecular mechanisms orchestration during intestine organogenesis via the ARTN-GFRA3 signaling: involved in the development of enteric nervous system and renal organogenesis during embryonic life, and promotes the formation of Peyer's patch-like structures, a major component of the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (By similarity). Mediates, through interaction with GDF15-receptor GFRAL, GDF15-induced cell-signaling in the brainstem which triggers an aversive response, characterized by nausea, vomiting, and/or loss of appetite in response to various stresses (PubMed:28846097, PubMed:28846099, PubMed:28953886). Modulates cell adhesion via its cleavage by caspase in sympathetic neurons and mediates cell migration in an integrin (e.g. ITGB1 and ITGB3)-dependent manner (PubMed:20702524, PubMed:21357690). Also active in the absence of ligand, triggering apoptosis through a mechanism that requires receptor intracellular caspase cleavage (PubMed:21357690). Triggers the differentiation of rapidly adapting (RA) mechanoreceptors (PubMed:20064382). Involved in the development of the neural crest (By similarity). Regulates nociceptor survival and size (By similarity). Phosphorylates PTK2/FAK1 (PubMed:21454698)

Subcellular location

Cell membraneEndosome membrane
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (34)

Domains & features

CadherinProtein kinase

Gene Ontology

  • Caxon
  • Cendosome membrane
  • Cplasma membrane
  • Cplasma membrane protein complex
  • Creceptor complex
  • FATP binding
  • Fcalcium ion binding
  • Fprotein tyrosine kinase activity
  • Fsignaling receptor activity
  • Ftransmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase activity
  • Paxon guidance
  • Pcell surface receptor protein tyrosine kinase signaling pathway

1114 aa · 124 kDa · 2 isoforms

Biological roles

Reactome v97

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

Kinase signallingUniProt · GOCell adhesionUniProt · GOProteolysisGOTranscriptional regulationGOApoptosis & cell deathUniProt
View supporting evidence

Kinase signalling

  • ·Receptor tyrosine-protein kinase involved in numerous cellular mechanisms including cell…
  • ·protein tyrosine kinase activity
  • ·transmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase activity
  • ·positive regulation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B signal transduction

Cell adhesion

  • ·Receptor tyrosine-protein kinase involved in numerous cellular mechanisms including cell…
  • ·homophilic cell-cell adhesion
  • ·neuron cell-cell adhesion
  • ·positive regulation of cell adhesion mediated by integrin

Proteolysis

  • ·membrane protein proteolysis

Transcriptional regulation

  • ·positive regulation of DNA-templated transcription

Apoptosis & cell death

  • ·Receptor tyrosine-protein kinase involved in numerous cellular mechanisms including cell…
View underlying pathways (5)

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.

GFRA2GFRA1NRTNGFRA3ARTNGDNFGFRALPSPNNCOA4CCDC6RET

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

3

Whether each drug engages this protein directly or through a complex, and how many other targets are recorded for it. Direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.

pralsetinib
Narrow target profileApprovedInhibitor

Tyrosine-protein kinase receptor RET inhibitor

Appears in clinical studies involving medullary thyroid gland carcinoma, non-small cell lung carcinoma, non-small cell lung carcinoma, neoplasm

Direct interaction with this protein · 1 of 3 recorded protein targets — narrow recorded profile

sunitinib
ApprovedInhibitor

Tyrosine-protein kinase receptor RET inhibitor

Appears in clinical studies involving gastrointestinal stromal tumor, renal cell carcinoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumor, neuroendocrine neoplasm

Direct interaction with this protein · 1 of 9 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

regorafenib
ApprovedInhibitor

Tyrosine-protein kinase receptor RET inhibitor

Appears in clinical studies involving colorectal cancer, metastatic colorectal cancer, colorectal neoplasm, neoplasm

Direct interaction with this protein · 1 of 18 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

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

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically — disease associations, drugs in development, tractability and safety, from Open Targets.

Strongest genetic associations

Human genetic evidence — the most direct causal link between this target and a disease.

multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A0.94

Genetic · overall 0.86

Hirschsprung disease0.94

Genetic literature · overall 0.79

medullary thyroid gland carcinoma0.94

Genetic · overall 0.86

multiple endocrine neoplasia0.93

Genetic literature · overall 0.67

pheochromocytoma0.93

Genetic · overall 0.78

Highest-confidence therapeutic associations

Diseases where a drug acting on this target has already reached clinical development.

non-small cell lung carcinoma0.98

Clinical · overall 0.71

hepatocellular carcinoma0.97

Clinical · overall 0.69

Highest overall evidence

Remaining associations by Open Targets' aggregated evidence score.

multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B0.83

Genetic

multiple endocrine neoplasia type 20.77

Genetic

familial medullary thyroid carcinoma0.76

Genetic

Show all associations
medullary thyroid gland carcinoma0.86
multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A0.86
multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B0.83
Hirschsprung disease0.79
pheochromocytoma0.78
multiple endocrine neoplasia type 20.77
familial medullary thyroid carcinoma0.76
non-small cell lung carcinoma0.71
hepatocellular carcinoma0.69
multiple endocrine neoplasia0.67

Open Targets ranks 1,945 associations for this target and we store the top 10 by aggregated score. The long tail is largely literature co-mention and RNA-expression evidence, not evidence that this target drives those diseases.

Known drugs · 16 total

SELPERCATINIBApproval

medullary thyroid gland carcinoma · non-small cell lung carcinoma · thyroid cancer

ALECTINIBApproval

non-small cell lung carcinoma · lung cancer · non-small cell lung carcinoma

SORAFENIB TOSYLATEApproval

renal cell carcinoma · thyroid gland carcinoma · hepatocellular carcinoma

SORAFENIBApproval

renal cell carcinoma · hepatocellular carcinoma · renal cell carcinoma

BOS-589Phase 2

irritable bowel syndrome

QUIZARTINIBApproval

acute myeloid leukemia by FAB classification · neoplasm · childhood leukemia

VANDETANIBApproval

thyroid gland carcinoma · medullary thyroid gland carcinoma · medullary thyroid gland carcinoma

SUNITINIB MALATEApproval

renal cell carcinoma · gastrointestinal stromal tumor · neuroendocrine neoplasm

MOTESANIBPhase 3

non-small cell lung carcinoma · adenocarcinoma · non-small cell lung carcinoma

CEP-32496Phase 1 2

lung adenocarcinoma · non-small cell squamous lung carcinoma · non-small cell lung carcinoma

Tractability

SM · Approved DrugSM · Structure with LigandSM · High-Quality LigandSM · High-Quality PocketSM · Druggable FamilyAB · UniProt loc high confAB · GO CC high confAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMMPR · Database UbiquitinationPR · Small Molecule BinderOC · Advanced Clinical

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.

Show remaining trials (24)

COMPLETED · via sunitinib · NCT00357318

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

Forefront confidence

Synthesis

Our own weighting of the evidence behind each disease association. Human genetics and clinical evidence count for most; literature co-mention counts for little, because two entities sharing an abstract is not evidence that one drives the other.

medullary thyroid gland carcinomaWell supported
0.99
agreement 0.911.00
Genetic40%Clinical30%Somatic mutation17%Literature6%Animal model6%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.86 · 5 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

pheochromocytomaWell supported
0.96
agreement 0.871.00
Genetic61%Somatic mutation23%Literature9%Clinical8%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.78 · 4 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2AWell supported
0.95
agreement 0.811.00
Genetic93%Literature7%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.86 · 2 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2Well supported
0.94
agreement 0.811.00
Genetic75%Animal model21%Literature4%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.77 · 3 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

Hirschsprung diseaseWell supported
0.91
agreement 0.791.00
Genetic64%Animal model28%Literature8%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.79 · 3 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

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 underlying per-type scores are shown above so the calculation can be checked.

What's happening now

32

Recent activity around this target, drawn from one canonical event stream. Every item is reached through 3 drugs that target this protein, so each event is news about that drug rather than about the protein directly.

  1. New publication2025-01-06
    Efficacy of pembrolizumab in microsatellite-stable, tumor mutational burden-high metastatic colorectal cancer: genomic signatures and clinical outcomes.

    ESMO open · 2025 · 10 citations · Europe PMC · via regorafenib

  2. Withdrawn from market2024-10-24

    Market withdrawal: Gavreto (EMA)

    ema · market · ema · via pralsetinib

  3. New publication2024-06-04
    Lenvatinib Plus Pembrolizumab Versus Standard of Care for Previously Treated Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: Final Analysis of the Randomized, Open-Label, Phase III LEAP-017 Study.

    Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2024 · 69 citations · Europe PMC · via regorafenib

  4. New publication2024-05-03
    Machine-learning and mechanistic modeling of metastatic breast cancer after neoadjuvant treatment.

    PLoS computational biology · 2024 · 10 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  5. New publication2024-01-05
    Genomic profiling in GIST: Implications in clinical outcome and future challenges.

    Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.) · 2024 · 20 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  6. New publication2024-01-01
    Pralsetinib in Patients with Advanced/Metastatic Rearranged During Transfection (RET)-Altered Thyroid Cancer: Updated Efficacy and Safety Data from the ARROW Study.

    Thyroid : official journal of the American Thyroid Association · 2024 · 40 citations · Europe PMC · via pralsetinib

  7. New publication2021-03-01
    Nivolumab plus Cabozantinib versus Sunitinib for Advanced Renal-Cell Carcinoma.

    The New England journal of medicine · 2021 · 1,297 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  8. Regulatory approval2021-02-11

    Approval: Sunitinib Accord (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via sunitinib

  9. New publication2020-08-11
    Targeted therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma.

    Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2020 · 565 citations · Europe PMC · via regorafenib

  10. New publication2020-06-21
    Liver transarterial chemoembolization and sunitinib for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: Results of the PRODIGE 16 study.

    Clinics and research in hepatology and gastroenterology · 2021 · 15 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  11. New publication2020-04-25
    Updated efficacy results from the JAVELIN Renal 101 trial: first-line avelumab plus axitinib versus sunitinib in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.

    Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology · 2020 · 319 citations · Europe PMC · via sunitinib

  12. New publication2019-11-04
    Molecular targeted and immune checkpoint therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

    Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2019 · 162 citations · Europe PMC · via regorafenib

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.