Amplification of AXL gene of zika virus entry receptor

The incidence of Zika virus infection is dramatically increasing in the year 2015. It is endemic in South America and is about to spread fast worldwide. It is important to identify and isolate the specific cell surface receptor for Zika virus to understand its mechanism. There are few receptors that have been reported to play a role in the Zika virus entry mechanism and one of it is AXL gene. The aim of this study is to amplify the homology arms of AXL gene. The homology arms produced can be used by future researchers to produce the gene knockout for AXL gene. To design primers that are specific to AXL gene, we used the ENSEMBL software, RepeatMasker software and PrimerBlast software. The amplification of homology arms was done by PCR methods together with 12.5 µL of Master Mix. The size of the PCR product is 1000 bp. All PCR products were analysed with 1.2% agarose gel electrophoresis method by running it together with 1000 bp DNA Ladder marker. The result shows a successful amplification of homology arms for AXL gene. The amplification of homology arms of AXL gene can lead to the production of gene knock-out cassette thus contributing to new discoveries in Zika virus research. The production of gene knockout of AXL gene can give a better understanding of the mechanism of entry of Zika virus.