Protein / target

Tubulin alpha-3C chain

TUBA3CP0DPH7Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
30
Clinical trials
Small-molecule tractable
Druggability
Druggable Family
12
Drugs targeting

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Structural constituent of cytoskeleton

Primary system

Endocrine & metabolic

Strongest disease association

keratoconus 9

Genetic evidence · score 0.73

Druggability

Small molecule

Open Targets tractability · Druggable Family

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

Tubulin is the major constituent of microtubules, a cylinder consisting of laterally associated linear protofilaments composed of alpha- and beta-tubulin heterodimers. Microtubules grow by the addition of GTP-tubulin dimers to the microtubule end, where a stabilizing cap forms. Below the cap, tubulin dimers are in GDP-bound state, owing to GTPase activity of alpha-tubulin

Subcellular location

Cytoplasm, cytoskeleton
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (11)

Gene Ontology

  • Ccilium
  • Ccytoplasm
  • Cmicrotubule
  • Cmicrotubule cytoskeleton
  • Cnucleus
  • FGTP binding
  • Fhydrolase activity
  • Fmetal ion binding
  • Fstructural constituent of cytoskeleton
  • Pmicrotubule cytoskeleton organization
  • Pmitotic cell cycle

450 aa · 50 kDa · 2 isoforms

Biological roles

Reactome v97

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

Nuclear receptor signallingReactomeImmune signallingReactome
View supporting evidence

Nuclear receptor signalling

  • ·HSP90 chaperone cycle for steroid hormone receptors (SHR) in the presence of ligand

Immune signalling

  • ·MHC class II antigen presentation
View underlying pathways (25)

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.

TUBB2ATUBBTUBB4BTUBB6TUBB4ATUBB1TUBB8TUBB2BTUBB3CDC42TUBA3C

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

12

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.

Colchicine
Inhibitor

Tubulin inhibitor

Acts on a complex — shared with TUBB4B, TUBB1, TUBA4A +11 more · 1 of 15 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

Tubulin inhibitor

Acts on a complex — shared with TUBB4B, TUBB1, TUBA4A +11 more · 1 of 16 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

Paclitaxel
Inhibitor

Tubulin inhibitor

Acts on a complex — shared with TUBB4B, TUBB1, TUBA4A +11 more · 1 of 15 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

Tubulin inhibitor

Acts on a complex — shared with TUBB4B, TUBB1, TUBA4A +11 more · 1 of 16 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

docetaxel
Inhibitor

Tubulin inhibitor

Acts on a complex — shared with TUBB4B, TUBB1, TUBA4A +11 more · 1 of 15 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

Tubulin inhibitor

Acts on a complex — shared with TUBB4B, TUBB1, TUBA4A +11 more · 1 of 16 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

Tubulin inhibitor

Acts on a complex — shared with TUBB4B, TUBB1, TUBA4A +11 more · 1 of 16 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

Tubulin inhibitor

Acts on a complex — shared with TUBB4B, TUBB1, TUBA4A +11 more · 1 of 16 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

Tubulin inhibitor

Acts on a complex — shared with TUBB4B, TUBB1, TUBA4A +11 more · 1 of 16 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

disitamab vedotin
Disrupting agent

Tubulin disrupting agent

Acts on a complex — shared with TUBB4B, TUBB1, TUBA4A +11 more · 1 of 16 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

vinflunine
Inhibitor

Tubulin inhibitor

Acts on a complex — shared with TUBB4B, TUBB1, TUBA4A +11 more · 1 of 15 recorded protein targets — broad pharmacology

cabazitaxel
Inhibitor

Tubulin inhibitor

Acts on a complex — shared with TUBB4B, TUBB1, TUBA4A +11 more · 1 of 15 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.

keratoconus 90.73

Genetic · overall 0.44

keratoconus0.61

Genetic · overall 0.47

response to xenobiotic stimulus0.18

Genetic · overall 0.11

poisoning0.18

Genetic · overall 0.11

urolithiasis0.03

Genetic · overall 0.02

Highest overall evidence

Remaining associations by Open Targets' aggregated evidence score.

viral infectious disease0.46

Pathway

colorectal adenocarcinoma0.04

RNA expression

pancreatic adenocarcinoma0.04

RNA expression

carcinoma of liver and intrahepatic biliary tract0.03

RNA expression

alcohol drinking0.02

Genetic

Show all associations
keratoconus0.47
viral infectious disease0.46
keratoconus 90.44
response to xenobiotic stimulus0.11
poisoning0.11
colorectal adenocarcinoma0.04
pancreatic adenocarcinoma0.04
carcinoma of liver and intrahepatic biliary tract0.03
urolithiasis0.02
alcohol drinking0.02

Open Targets ranks 49 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.

Tractability

SM · Druggable FamilyPR · Database Ubiquitination

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)

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.

keratoconus 9Moderately supported
0.72
agreement 0.600.84
Genetic100%

Open Targets aggregate 0.44 · 1 independent evidence family

keratoconusModerately supported
0.62
agreement 0.480.76
Genetic95%Literature6%Genetic literaturedup

Open Targets aggregate 0.47 · 2 independent evidence families · 1 not counted as duplicate

viral infectious diseasePreliminary
0.30
agreement 0.080.53
Pathway100%

Open Targets aggregate 0.46 · 1 independent evidence family · no direct causal or clinical evidence

response to xenobiotic stimulusPreliminary
0.18
agreement 0.060.30
Genetic100%

Open Targets aggregate 0.11 · 1 independent evidence family

poisoningPreliminary
0.18
agreement 0.060.30
Genetic100%

Open Targets aggregate 0.11 · 1 independent evidence family

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

60

Recent activity around this target, drawn from one canonical event stream. Every item is reached through 10 drugs that target this protein, so each event is news about that drug rather than about the protein directly.

  1. Trial results posted2026-07-27

    Cemiplimab in High-risk or Locally Advanced Luminal and Triple Negative Breast Cancer (CemiHALT )

    Results posted · ClinicalTrials.gov · via Paclitaxel

  2. Trial status changed2026-07-24

    Phase II Study Of Combination Ruxolitinib (INCB018424) With Preoperative Chemotherapy For Triple Negative Inflammatory Breast Cancer

    Status changed to Completed · ClinicalTrials.gov · via Paclitaxel

  3. Trial results posted2026-07-20

    A Phase 3, Randomized Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Pembrolizumab (MK-3475) + Lenvatinib (E7080/MK-7902) + Chemotherapy Compared With Standard of Care as First-line Intervention in Participants With Metastatic Esophageal Carcinoma.

    Results posted · ClinicalTrials.gov · via Paclitaxel

  4. Trial status changed2026-07-20

    A Phase 3, Randomized Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Pembrolizumab (MK-3475) + Lenvatinib (E7080/MK-7902) + Chemotherapy Compared With Standard of Care as First-line Intervention in Participants With Metastatic Esophageal Carcinoma.

    Status changed to Completed · ClinicalTrials.gov · via Paclitaxel

  5. Trial status changed2026-07-17

    A Phase 1b Open-Label Study to Evaluate the Safety and Anti-cancer Activity of Loncastuximab Tesirine in Combination With Other Anti-cancer Agents in Patients With Relapsed or Refractory B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (LOTIS-7)

    Status changed to Active, not recruiting · ClinicalTrials.gov · via polatuzumab vedotin

  6. Indication expanded2026-07-10

    Indication expansion: ENFORTUMAB VEDOTIN (BLA761137)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via enfortumab vedotin

  7. CHMP positive opinion2026-05-22

    CHMP positive opinion: Colchicine Agepha Pharma (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via Colchicine

  8. Indication expanded2025-11-21

    Indication expansion: ENFORTUMAB VEDOTIN (BLA761137)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via enfortumab vedotin

  9. Regulatory approval2025-07-23

    Approval: Blenrep (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via belantamab mafodotin

  10. Regulatory approval2025-03-28

    Approval: Tivdak (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via tisotumab vedotin

  11. New publication2025-03-05
    Pembrolizumab Plus Docetaxel Versus Docetaxel for Previously Treated Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: The Randomized, Double-Blind, Phase III KEYNOTE-921 Trial.

    Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2025 · 43 citations · Europe PMC · via docetaxel

  12. Label change2025-02-27

    Label change: ENFORTUMAB VEDOTIN (BLA761137)

    fda · regulatory · fda · via enfortumab vedotin

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.