Sortases are transpeptidases found in many Gram-positive bacteria. Among them, Sortase A (SrtA) recognizes LPXTG motif and catalyzes the transamination between the T and G residues. SrtA-mediated ligation has recently emerged as an attractive tool for protein engineering, with applications ranging from protein conjugation and surface labeling. This ligation reaction enables conjugation of natural and unnatural polypeptides, fluorescent probes, sugar moeity, nucleic acids, lipids, toxins, synthetic compounds at either end of the LPXTG motif, and has created innovative applications in cell-surface labeling, creating chimeric multifunctional proteins, and beyond. In addition to conjugation, SrtA-fusion expression can also be used as a protein purification tool.
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