AUTHOR=Xie Shengda , Zhang Huiru , Liang Zhenjie , Yang Xingmiao , Cao Ruibing 

TITLE=AXL, an Important Host Factor for DENV and ZIKV Replication

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2021.575346

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2021.575346

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=Flaviviruses, such as Zika, dengue, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile, tick-borne encephalitis, and yellow fever viruses, are important pathogens that seriously endanger human and animal health. Flavivirus is a mosquito-borne enveloped virus which is still a major public health problem all over the world, although with the development of public health and clinical medicine. For instance, the evolution of ZIKV led to large-scale outbreaks in 2007. DENV was considered by the World Health Organization(WHO) as one of the ten threats to global health in 2019. Enveloped viruses hijack a variety of host factors to complete its replication cycle. Phosphatidylserine(PtdSer) receptor,AXL, is considered to be a candidate receptor for flavivirus invasion. In this review, we discuss the molecular structure of ZIKV and DENV, and how they interact with AXL to successfully invade host cells. Understanding of the mechanisms of flavivirus-AXL interaction at the cellular level will provide crucial insights into the development of flavivirus therapeutics and virus inhibitors.