Sortase-Mediated Transpeptidation for Site-Specific Modification of Peptides, Glycopeptides, and Proteins

J Carbohydr Chem. 2012;31(1):48-66. doi: 10.1080/07328303.2011.635251. Epub 2012 Jan 19.

Abstract

Sortases are a family of transpeptidases found in Gram-positive bacteria responsible for covalent anchoring of cell surface proteins to bacterial cell walls. It has been discovered that sortase A (SrtA) of Staphylococcus aureus origin is rather promiscuous and can accept various molecules as substrates. As a result, SrtA has been widely used to ligate peptides and proteins with a variety of nucleophiles, and the ligation products are useful for research in chemical biology, proteomics, biomedicine, etc. This review summarizes the recent applications of SrtA with special emphasis on SrtA-catalyzed ligation of carbohydrates with peptides and proteins.