Background. Liver cancer (LC) is the most devastating disease affecting a large set of populations in the world. The mortality due to LC is escalating, indicating the lack of effective therapeutic options. Immunotherapeutic agents may play an important role against cancer cells. As immune cells, especially T lymphocytes, which are part of cancer immunology, the design of vaccine candidates for cytotoxic T lymphocytes may be an effective strategy for curing liver cancer. Results. In our study, based on an immunoinformatics approach, we predicted potential T cell epitopes of MHC class I molecules using integrated steps of data retrieval, screening of antigenic proteins, functional analysis, peptide synthesis, and experimental in vivo investigations. We predicted the binding affinity of epitopes LLECADDRADLAKY, VSEHRIQDKDGLFY, and EYILSLEELVNGMY of LC membrane‐bounded extracellular proteins including butyrophilin‐like protein‐2 (BTNL2), glypican‐3 (GPC3), and serum albumin (ALB), respectively, with MHC class I molecules (allele: HLA‐A∗01:01). These T cell epitopes rely on the level of their binding energy and antigenic properties. We designed and constructed a trivalent immunogenic model by conjugating these epitopes with linkers to activate cytotoxic T cells. For validation, the nonspecific hematological assays showed a significant rise in the count of white blood cells (5 × 10⁹/l), lymphocytes (13 × 10⁹/l), and granulocytes (5 × 10⁹/l) compared to the control after administration of trivalent peptides. Specific immunoassays including granzyme B and IgG ELISA exhibited the significant concentration of these effector molecules in blood serum, indicating the activity of cytotoxic T cells. Granzyme concentration increased to 1050 pg/ml at the second booster dose compared to the control (95 pg/ml), while the concentration of IgG raised to 6 g/l compared to the control (2 g/l). Conclusion. We concluded that a potential therapeutic trivalent vaccine can activate and modulate the immune system to cure liver cancer on the basis of significant outcomes of specific and nonspecific assays.

Human papilloma virus (HPV) causes cervical and many other cancers. Recent trend in vaccine design is shifted toward epitope-based developments that are more specific, safe, and easy to produce. In this study, we predicted eight immunogenic peptides of CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes (MHC class I and II as M1 and M2) including early proteins (E2 and E6), major (L1) and minor capsid protein (L2). Male and female Sprague Dawly rats in groups were immunized with each synthetic peptide. L1M1, L1M2, L2M1, and L2M2 induced significant immunogenic response compared to E2M1, E2M2, E6M1 and E6M2. We observed optimal titer of IgG antibodies (>1.25 g/L), interferon-γ (>64 ng/L), and granzyme-B (>40 pg/mL) compared to control at second booster dose (240 µg/500 µL). The induction of peptide-specific IgG antibodies in immunized rats indicates the T-cell dependent B-lymphocyte activation. A substantial CD4+ and CD8+ cell count was observed at 240 µg/500 µL. In male and female rats, CD8+ cell count for L1 and L2 peptide is 3000 and 3118, and CD4+ is 3369 and 3484 respectively compared to control. In conclusion, we demonstrated that L1M1, L1M2, L2M1, L2M2 are likely to contain potential epitopes for induction of immune responses supporting the feasibility of peptide-based vaccine development for HPV.

BACKGROUND Background: The adoption of mobile health information technology (mHealth), consisting primarily of electronic medical record (EMR) in hospitals and mobile health (mHealth) application among consumers outside of healthcare settings, have been booming in China. There have been investigations on the impact of mHealth on improving the quality of healthcare. However, it remains unclear whether emerging mHealth providers, particularly mHealth providers, fill in emerging consumer needs in China. OBJECTIVE Objective: This study aims to survey prior knowledge, current usage, and future preference of mHealth applications among two distinct cohorts (online vs hospital visitor) that we surveyed in China. METHODS Methods: We categorized main mHealth features into 9 groups. We surveyed two Chinese cohorts: hospitalized patients (n = 299) and the general public outside the hospital using WeChat—a popular social networking APPs (n = 156), on mHealth usage and expectations on these 9 feature groups. The original survey was conducted in Chinese. We performed data analysis of user reponses in the survey using descriptive statistics techniques: t-test and chi-square fitness test. RESULTS Results: Although most of the survey participants show prior knowledge on some features of EMR, most of them (66%) have never used mHealth applications. In addition, the participants consider predictive analytic features as the most important ones for the mHealth applications. The responses vary according to different cohort demographics, in particular, age groups. CONCLUSIONS Conclusions: Despite tremendous efforts in adopting EMR and developing mHealth applications, it is still too early to conclude that mHealth are readily adopted among patients in China. There are significant gaps among what the implementers offer, what providers expect, and what patients and consumers demands. Current Chinese mHealth applications implement features heavily focused on social networking and communication; however, it has been shown that patients do not consider these features as the top priority in mHealth applications. Instead, our study suggests that analytic features should be the future focus for successful mHealth application development in China.