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Degradation of PET microplastic particles to monomers in human serum by designer enzymes
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Engineered PETase enzymes broke down PET microplastic-like particles into the monomer terephthalic acid in human serum at 37 °C. The experiments were done in vitro. The authors describe the result as a step toward future work on microplastics in blood.
Abstract Due to prolonged exposure, microplastic particles are found in human blood and other bodily fluids. Despite a lack of toxicity studies regarding microplastics, harmful effects for humans seem plausible and cannot be excluded. As small plastic particles readily translocate from the gut to body fluids, enzyme-based treatment of serum could constitute a promising avenue to clear synthetic polymers and their responding oligomers by degradation into monomers. Still, the activity of plastic degrading enzymes in serum remains unknown. Here we report how engineered PETases can depolymerize microplastic-like particles of the commodity polymer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into its non-toxic monomer terephthalic acid (TPA) in human serum at 37°C. By developing an efficient method to depolymerize microplastics in vitro , our work takes a step closer to find a solution to the problem that microplastics in the bloodstream may pose in the future.
More Papers Like This
Degradation of PET microplastic particles to monomers in human serum by PETase
AI summary Read the abstract
An engineered PETase enzyme broke crystalline PET microplastic-like particles down into their monomers in human serum at 37 °C. Enzyme activity in serum had not been measured before. The experiments were done in vitro.
Degradation of PET microplastic particles to monomers in human serum by PETase
AI summary Read the abstract
An engineered enzyme, PETase, broke down PET microplastic-like particles into terephthalic acid and a related compound in human serum at 37 °C. The enzyme did not affect cell viability in lab tests. The work was done in serum samples and cell cultures, not in living subjects.
WITHDRAWN: Degradation of PET microplastic particles to monomers in human serum by PETase
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This record is marked as withdrawn from publication, indicating the study on degradation of PET microplastic particles to monomers in human serum has been retracted; no TLDR is generated for withdrawn publications.
WITHDRAWN: Degradation of PET microplastic particles to monomers in human serum by PETase
AI summary Read the abstract
This paper has been withdrawn from publication. The study described testing PETase enzyme degradation of PET microplastics in human serum; however, as a retracted paper its findings should not be relied upon. (Note: a separate non-withdrawn version appears elsewhere in this database as ID 40206.)
Enzymatic Degradation of PET plastic
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This study tested commercial-grade enzymes for degrading PET plastic and found that enzymatic degradation was effective at laboratory scale but faced challenges for real-world application. Scaling up enzymatic PET recycling could reduce the persistence of plastic waste that eventually fragments into microplastics in the environment.
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