HepAn

HepAn, short for Hepatic Antigen Network, is a fictional biomolecule used in teaching immunology and hepatology concepts. It is not a real pathogen, toxin, or clinically used antigen; instead, it serves as a neutral example to illustrate how hepatic immune processing and recognition might occur.

Concept and design: In educational depictions, HepAn is described as a modular protein that mimics features of viral or self-antigens encountered in the liver. It typically includes a core antigenic domain, a liver-localization segment, and multiple epitopes that may be shown as mutable. In simulations, HepAn is taken up by antigen-presenting cells such as Kupffer cells or dendritic cells, processed in endosomes, and presented on MHC class II molecules, with occasional cross-presentation on MHC class I to CD8+ T cells. This framework is used to discuss tolerance versus activation in hepatic immunity.

Educational use: HepAn appears in textbooks, lecture slides, and interactive software to demonstrate antigen uptake, processing, epitope presentation, and T-cell activation. It is employed to illustrate how epitope density, mutation, and adjuvant effects can influence immunogenicity and vaccine design within liver tissue.

Limitations and scope: Because HepAn is fictional, it does not correspond to any real-world antigen or disease and should not be used for clinical decisions. It is intended solely as a teaching and illustration tool.

Variants: Some materials introduce HepAn variants (such as HepAn-A or HepAn-B) to demonstrate how changes in epitopes or localization signals might alter immune outcomes.