XK and influenza: In this study, we attempted to overcome the limitations of the current influenza vaccines with regards to antigenic shift and drift associated with HA and NA (Webster et al., 1992), by focusing on the influenza A virus M2e peptide as a universal vaccine candidate, due to its high degree of conservation since the emergence of the highly virulent Spanish flu pandemic strain of 1918 (Fiers et al., 2004).