M2e-Derived Peptidyl and Peptide Amphiphile Micelles as Novel Influenza Vaccines.

A significant problem with current influenza vaccines is their reliance on predictions of the most prevalent strains for the upcoming season, with inaccurate forecasts greatly reducing the overall efficacy of the immunization campaign. A universal influenza vaccine, which leverages epitopes conserved across many, if not all, strains of influenza, could reduce the need for extremely accurate forecasting. The highly conserved ectodomain of the influenza M2 protein contains a B cell epitope in the M2 region, making it a promising candidate as a universal influenza vaccine.