Protein / target

Receptor tyrosine-protein kinase erbB-4

ERBB4Q15303Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
6
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

Abnormality of the skeletal system

Genetic evidence · score 0.87

Therapeutic maturity

Clinically validated target

6 approved medicines against this target

Druggability

Small molecule

Open Targets tractability · Approved Drug

Clinical development

6 approved · 9 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

Tyrosine-protein kinase that plays an essential role as cell surface receptor for neuregulins and EGF family members and regulates development of the heart, the central nervous system and the mammary gland, gene transcription, cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and apoptosis. Required for normal cardiac muscle differentiation during embryonic development, and for postnatal cardiomyocyte proliferation. Required for normal development of the embryonic central nervous system, especially for normal neural crest cell migration and normal axon guidance. Required for mammary gland differentiation, induction of milk proteins and lactation. Acts as cell-surface receptor for the neuregulins NRG1, NRG2, NRG3 and NRG4 and the EGF family members BTC, EREG and HBEGF. Ligand binding triggers receptor dimerization and autophosphorylation at specific tyrosine residues that then serve as binding sites for scaffold proteins and effectors. Ligand specificity and signaling is modulated by alternative splicing, proteolytic processing, and by the formation of heterodimers with other ERBB family members, thereby creating multiple combinations of intracellular phosphotyrosines that trigger ligand- and context-specific cellular responses. Mediates phosphorylation of SHC1 and activation of the MAP kinases MAPK1/ERK2 and MAPK3/ERK1. Isoform JM-A CYT-1 and isoform JM-B CYT-1 phosphorylate PIK3R1, leading to the activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase and AKT1 and protect cells against apoptosis. Isoform JM-A CYT-1 and isoform JM-B CYT-1 mediate reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton and promote cell migration in response to NRG1. Isoform JM-A CYT-2 and isoform JM-B CYT-2 lack the phosphotyrosine that mediates interaction with PIK3R1, and hence do not phosphorylate PIK3R1, do not protect cells against apoptosis, and do not promote reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton and cell migration. Proteolytic processing of isoform JM-A CYT-1 and isoform JM-A CYT-2 gives rise to the corresponding soluble intracellular domains (4ICD) that translocate to the nucleus, promote nuclear import of STAT5A, activation of STAT5A, mammary epithelium differentiation, cell proliferation and activation of gene expression. The ERBB4 soluble intracellular domains (4ICD) colocalize with STAT5A at the CSN2 promoter to regulate transcription of milk proteins during lactation. The ERBB4 soluble intracellular domains can also translocate to mitochondria and promote apoptosis

Subcellular location

Cell membraneNucleusMitochondrion
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (63)

Domains & features

Protein kinase

Gene Ontology

  • Cbasal plasma membrane
  • Cbasolateral plasma membrane
  • Ccytosol
  • Cextracellular region
  • CGABA-ergic synapse
  • Cglutamatergic synapse
  • Cmitochondrial matrix
  • Cmitochondrion
  • Cneuromuscular junction
  • Cnucleoplasm
  • Cnucleus
  • Cplasma membrane

1308 aa · 147 kDa · 4 isoforms

Biological roles

Reactome v97

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

Transcriptional regulationUniProt · GO · ReactomeKinase signallingUniProt · GOImmune signallingUniProt · GOSynaptic signallingGOApoptosis & cell deathGOInhibitory neurotransmissionGO
View supporting evidence

Transcriptional regulation

  • ·Tyrosine-protein kinase that plays an essential role as cell surface receptor for neureg…
  • ·transcription cis-regulatory region binding
  • ·DNA-templated transcription
  • ·positive regulation of DNA-templated transcription

Kinase signalling

  • ·Tyrosine-protein kinase that plays an essential role as cell surface receptor for neureg…
  • ·protein tyrosine kinase activity
  • ·transmembrane receptor protein tyrosine kinase activity
  • ·peptidyl-tyrosine phosphorylation

Immune signalling

  • ·Tyrosine-protein kinase that plays an essential role as cell surface receptor for neureg…
  • ·neural crest cell migration

Synaptic signalling

  • ·GABA-ergic synapse
  • ·glutamatergic synapse
  • ·postsynaptic density membrane
  • ·postsynaptic membrane

Apoptosis & cell death

  • ·mitochondrial fragmentation involved in apoptotic process
  • ·negative regulation of apoptotic process

Inhibitory neurotransmission

  • ·GABA-ergic synapse
View underlying pathways (20)

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.

ERBB3SHC1BTCNRG3NRG2GRB2EGFEREGHBEGFNRG1ERBB4

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

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.

neratinib
Narrow target profileApprovedInhibitor

Receptor protein-tyrosine kinase erbB-4 inhibitor

Appears in clinical studies involving neoplasm, breast cancer, non-small cell lung carcinoma, glioblastoma

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

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.

Abnormality of the skeletal system0.87

Genetic · overall 0.53

polycystic ovary syndrome0.87

Genetic · overall 0.54

hereditary disease0.83

Genetic · overall 0.51

atrial fibrillation0.83

Genetic · overall 0.51

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis0.73

Genetic · overall 0.66

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 0.68

medullary thyroid gland carcinoma0.89

Clinical · overall 0.55

neoplasm0.87

Clinical · overall 0.61

breast cancer0.84

Clinical · overall 0.58

cancer0.19

Clinical · overall 0.61

Show all associations
non-small cell lung carcinoma0.68
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis0.66
neoplasm0.61
cancer0.61
breast cancer0.58
medullary thyroid gland carcinoma0.55
polycystic ovary syndrome0.54
Abnormality of the skeletal system0.53
atrial fibrillation0.51
hereditary disease0.51

Open Targets ranks 869 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 · 15 total

KBP5209Phase 1
AFATINIB DIMALEATEApproval

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

VANDETANIBApproval

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

NERATINIB MALEATEApproval

breast cancer · breast neoplasm · breast carcinoma

POZIOTINIBPhase 3

non-small cell lung carcinoma · HER2 positive breast carcinoma · non-small cell lung carcinoma

CANERTINIB DIHYDROCHLORIDEPhase 2

lymphoma · non-small cell lung carcinoma · breast cancer

JNJ-26483327Phase 1
CANERTINIBPhase 2

lymphoma · non-small cell lung carcinoma

DACOMITINIB ANHYDROUSPhase 2

head and neck squamous cell carcinoma · glioblastoma · head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

DACOMITINIBApproval

non-small cell lung carcinoma · non-small cell 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 · UniProt UbiquitinationPR · Database UbiquitinationPR · Half-life DataPR · Small Molecule Binder

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)

RECRUITING · via neratinib · NCT05919108

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.

polycystic ovary syndromeWell supported
0.87
agreement 0.731.00
Genetic94%Literature7%

Open Targets aggregate 0.54 · 2 independent evidence families

Abnormality of the skeletal systemWell supported
0.87
agreement 0.750.99
Genetic100%

Open Targets aggregate 0.53 · 1 independent evidence family

non-small cell lung carcinomaWell supported
0.84
agreement 0.720.96
Clinical63%Somatic mutation26%Literature11%

Open Targets aggregate 0.68 · 3 independent evidence families

atrial fibrillationWell supported
0.84
agreement 0.700.97
Genetic95%Literature5%

Open Targets aggregate 0.51 · 2 independent evidence families

hereditary diseaseWell supported
0.83
agreement 0.690.97
Genetic99%Literature1%

Open Targets aggregate 0.51 · 2 independent evidence families

This ranking differs from Open Targets' own: re-weighting moves genetically-evidenced diseases above more heavily co-mentioned ones. 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

3

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

  1. Trial status changed2026-07-22

    Phase I Study of the Pan-ERBB Inhibitor Neratinib Given in Combination With Everolimus, Palbociclib, or Trametinib in Advanced Cancer Subjects With EGFR Mutation/Amplification, HER2 Mutation/Amplification, or HER3/4 Mutation or KRAS Mutation

    Status changed to Terminated · ClinicalTrials.gov · via neratinib

  2. New publication2020-09-10
    Circulating tumour DNA analysis to direct therapy in advanced breast cancer (plasmaMATCH): a multicentre, multicohort, phase 2a, platform trial.

    The Lancet. Oncology · 2020 · 274 citations · Europe PMC · via neratinib

  3. Regulatory approval2018-08-31

    Approval: Nerlynx (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via neratinib

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.