Capture and Recycling of Sortase A through Site-Specific Labeling with Lithocholic Acid

Enzyme-mediated protein modification often requires large amounts of biocatalyst, adding significant costs to the process and limiting industrial applications. Herein, we demonstrate a scalable and straightforward strategy for the efficient capture and recycling of enzymes using a small-molecule affinity tag. A proline variant of an evolved sortase A (SrtA 7M) was N-terminally labeled with lithocholic acid (LA)-an inexpensive bile acid that exhibits strong binding to β-cyclodextrin (βCD). Capture and recycling of the LA-Pro-SrtA 7M conjugate was achieved using βCD-modified sepharose resin. The LA-Pro-SrtA 7M conjugate retained full enzymatic activity, even after multiple rounds of recycling.