Staphylococcus aureus Sortase, an Enzyme That Anchors Surface Proteins to the Cell Wall

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 285; no. 5428; pp. 760 - 763
• Main Authors: Mazmanian, Sarkis K., Liu, Gwen, Ton-That, Hung, Schneewind, Olaf
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 30.07.1999; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Aminoacyltransferases - chemistry; Aminoacyltransferases - metabolism; Bacteria; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Bacteriology; Biogenesis of cell structures, supramolecular organization; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Wall - metabolism; Cell walls; Cellular biology; Cysteine Endopeptidases; DNA; Enzymes; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes; Genes, Bacterial; Genetic mutation; Gram-Positive Bacteria - enzymology; Gram-Positive Bacteria - genetics; Literary Devices; Membrane proteins; Membrane Proteins - metabolism; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Mutagenesis; Mutation; Peptidoglycan - metabolism; Plasmids; Protein precursors; Protein Sorting Signals; Proteins; Staphylococcus; Staphylococcus aureus; Staphylococcus aureus - enzymology; Staphylococcus aureus - genetics; Staphylococcus aureus - metabolism; Peptidoglycan; Molecular assembly; Bacteria; Micrococcales; Micrococcaceae; Cell surface; Anchoring; Cell wall; Protein; Staphylococcus aureus
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.285.5428.760

Surface proteins of Gram-positive bacteria are linked to the bacterial cell wall by a mechanism that involves cleavage of a conserved Leu-Pro-X-Thr-Gly (LPXTG) motif and that occurs during assembly of the peptidoglycan cell wall. A Staphylococcus aureus mutant defective in the anchoring of surface proteins was isolated and shown to carry a mutation in the srtA gene. Overexpression of srtA increased the rate of surface protein anchoring, and homologs of srtA were found in other pathogenic Gram-positive bacteria. The protein specified by srtA, sortase, may be a useful target for the development of new antimicrobial drugs.