Sortases: structure, mechanism, and implications for protein engineering

Jeanine F Amacher; John M Antos

doi:10.1016/j.tibs.2024.04.003

Sortases: structure, mechanism, and implications for protein engineering

Trends Biochem Sci. 2024 Apr 30:S0968-0004(24)00100-2. doi: 10.1016/j.tibs.2024.04.003. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Jeanine F Amacher¹, John M Antos²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA. Electronic address: amachej@wwu.edu.
² Department of Chemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA. Electronic address: antosj@wwu.edu.

PMID: 38692993
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibs.2024.04.003

Abstract

Sortase enzymes are critical cysteine transpeptidases on the surface of bacteria that attach proteins to the cell wall and are involved in the construction of bacterial pili. Due to their ability to recognize specific substrates and covalently ligate a range of reaction partners, sortases are widely used in protein engineering applications via sortase-mediated ligation (SML) strategies. In this review, we discuss recent structural studies elucidating key aspects of sortase specificity and the catalytic mechanism. We also highlight select recent applications of SML, including examples where fundamental studies of sortase structure and function have informed the continued development of these enzymes as tools for protein engineering.

Keywords: enzymes; protein engineering; sortases; structural biology; target selectivity.

Publication types

Review