GNRHR Explorer

Select a TNBC subtype — expression data, receptor structure, and survival, cross-referenced

This tool walks through one question: does GNRHR — the receptor LHRH-conjugated nanoparticle constructs are designed to bind — show similar expression levels across TNBC's molecular subtypes? Select a subtype below; each panel updates with that subtype's data. Unfamiliar terms are underlined — hover for a definition. For a full walkthrough, see the plain-language reference.

01Select a subtype

02GNRHR expression in this subtype

Each dot is one patient's GNRHR expression (RNA-seq, RSEM units). Selected subtype highlighted; all 115 patients shown for context.

03GNRHR receptor structure

Loading structure from rcsb.org…

This structure does not change between subtypes. It is the same receptor protein regardless of which subtype is selected above — what changes is how much of it that subtype's cells make (the numbers in panel 02), not what it looks like.

This is PDB entry 7BR3, the solved crystal structure of the human GNRHR, published in Nature Communications (Yan et al., 2020). Yellow spheres = elagolix, a small-molecule antagonist bound in the binding pocket.

Caveats, per the PDB file's own DBREF records: (1) elagolix is a small-molecule antagonist, not a peptide agonist such as triptorelin — the molecule LHRH-conjugated nanoparticle constructs use. No structure of GNRHR bound to a peptide agonist has been solved; these are substantially harder to crystallize. (2) This is an engineered fusion construct: PDB residues 1–242 and 257–328 (teal below) are human GNRHR (UniProt P30968). PDB residues 1001–1196 (gray below) are a bacterial (Pyrococcus abyssi) glycogen synthase domain, inserted to stabilize the receptor for crystallization — a standard GPCR crystallography technique, not part of the native receptor.
GNRHR GlgA fusion (not GNRHR) Elagolix (ligand)

04GNRHR expression vs. survival

Kaplan-Meier survival curves, GNRHR-high vs GNRHR-low

Patients were split into GNRHR-high (n=58) and GNRHR-low (n=57) groups at the median, independent of subtype, and compared on overall survival.

No detectable difference (log-rank p=0.98) — the two curves sit almost exactly on top of each other.

Caveat: only 18 of 115 patients (15.7%) had a recorded death. That is a small number of events to detect anything but a very large effect — this result is inconclusive, not evidence that GNRHR has no relationship to survival.