Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

An Overview into Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Hydrolases and Efforts in Tailoring Enzymes for Improved Plastic Degradation

This review examines the discovery and engineering of PET-degrading enzymes including PETase and cutinase variants, discussing protein engineering strategies to improve catalytic efficiency and thermostability for practical biodegradation of polyethylene terephthalate plastic waste.

2022 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 120 citations
Article Tier 2

Dynamic docking assisted engineering of hydrolase for efficient PET depolymerization

Researchers developed a computational protein engineering strategy called Affinity analysis based on Dynamic Docking (ADD) to enhance the PET-degrading enzyme leaf-branch-compost cutinase (LCC), producing a variant (LCC-A2) that degraded over 90% of post-consumer PET waste into monomers within 3.3 hours.

2023 Research Square (Research Square) 3 citations
Article Tier 2

The Current State of Research on PET Hydrolyzing Enzymes Available for Biorecycling

This review summarizes the current state of PET-hydrolyzing enzymes, including thermophilic cutinases and engineered variants, that are candidates for enzymatic biorecycling of PET plastic waste back into reusable monomers.

2021 Catalysts 91 citations
Article Tier 2

Microbial Polyethylene Terephthalate Hydrolases: Current and Future Perspectives

This review surveys microbial enzymes capable of breaking down PET plastic, focusing on the structure and function of key hydrolases like PETase and cutinases. Researchers found that while several enzymes show promising PET-degrading activity, most work slowly and under limited temperature conditions, with engineered variants showing improved performance. The study highlights both the potential and the current limitations of using biological approaches for plastic waste management.

2020 Frontiers in Microbiology 168 citations
Article Tier 2

Advancing PET-Degrading Enzymes through Directed Evolution to Combat Plastic Pollution

This review examines advances in directed evolution of PET-degrading enzymes including PETases and cutinases, describing how techniques such as error-prone PCR, DNA shuffling, and saturation mutagenesis have produced enzyme variants with improved catalytic efficiency and thermostability for enzymatic plastic recycling applications.

2025 American journal of student research.
Article Tier 2

Computational redesign of a PETase for plastic biodegradation by the GRAPE strategy

Researchers engineered a more stable version of the enzyme PETase, which breaks down PET plastic, using a computational protein design strategy. The improved enzyme could enable more efficient industrial biodegradation of PET plastic waste, including microplastics.

2019 28 citations
Article Tier 2

Characterization and engineering of a plastic-degrading aromatic polyesterase

Researchers characterized and engineered an aromatic polyesterase enzyme capable of degrading plastic polymers, improving its activity through protein engineering and demonstrating its potential as a tool for biodegradation-based plastic cleanup.

2018 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 1006 citations
Article Tier 2

Current advances in the structural biology and molecular engineering of PETase

The study reviews advances in the structural biology and molecular engineering of PETase, an enzyme from the bacterium Ideonella sakaiensis that can break down PET plastic at moderate temperatures. Researchers discuss efforts to enhance the enzyme's activity and thermal stability through protein engineering, which could lead to more efficient and environmentally friendly PET recycling strategies.

2023 Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 42 citations
Article Tier 2

Discovery and rational engineering of PET hydrolase with both mesophilic and thermophilic PET hydrolase properties

Researchers discovered a new enzyme from a soil bacterium that can break down PET plastic — the material in most plastic bottles — at both room temperature and elevated heat, then engineered an improved version that degrades PET powder almost completely within half a day at 55°C. This dual-temperature capability makes it more practical than existing enzymes for industrial-scale plastic recycling and could help address the global PET waste problem.

2023 Nature Communications 100 citations
Article Tier 2

Recent advances in enzyme engineering for improved deconstruction of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) plastics

This review covers recent progress in engineering enzymes that can break down PET plastic, the material used in water bottles and food containers. While natural enzymes that digest PET have been discovered, they are not yet fast or durable enough for industrial-scale recycling. Advances in protein engineering, directed evolution, and computational design are steadily improving these enzymes, which could eventually provide a sustainable way to recycle PET and reduce microplastic pollution at its source.

2025 Communications Materials 7 citations
Article Tier 2

On the Role of Temperature in the Depolymerization of PET by FAST‐PETase: An Atomistic Point of View on Possible Active Site Pre‐Organization and Substrate‐Destabilization Effects

Researchers used molecular simulations to understand why the plastic-degrading enzyme FAST-PETase works better at 50°C than at lower temperatures when breaking down PET plastic. They found that at the optimal temperature the enzyme's active site pre-organizes itself to bind PET more efficiently, and the enzyme forces the plastic into a more reactive shape. Understanding these mechanisms can guide the engineering of even more effective enzymes for breaking down PET microplastics and plastic waste at practical scales.

2023 ChemBioChem 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Hydrolytic Degradation of Polyethylene Terephthalate by Cutinase Enzyme Derived from Fungal Biomass–Molecular Characterization

Researchers isolated cutinase and lipase enzymes from Aspergillus tamarii and Penicillium crustosum fungi and demonstrated their ability to catalyze hydrolytic degradation of PET plastic, offering a potential biological route for plastic waste breakdown.

2021 Biointerface Research in Applied Chemistry 37 citations
Article Tier 2

An efficient strategy to tailor PET hydrolase: Simple preparation with high yield and enhanced hydrolysis to micro-nano plastics

This study developed a simplified, high-yield preparation method for PET-degrading hydrolase enzymes to improve their ability to break down PET nano- and microplastics. The engineered enzyme showed enhanced hydrolysis activity against PET microplastics, offering a more practical route to enzymatic plastic waste treatment.

2024 International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Computational Redesign of a PETase for Plastic Biodegradation under Ambient Condition by the GRAPE Strategy

Researchers developed a computational protein engineering strategy called GRAPE to redesign a PET-degrading enzyme from Ideonella sakaiensis. The resulting DuraPETase variant showed a 31-degree-Celsius increase in thermal stability and over 300-fold improved degradation of PET films at mild temperatures, achieving complete biodegradation of 2 g/L microplastics into water-soluble products under ambient conditions.

2021 ACS Catalysis 545 citations
Article Tier 2

Structural decay of poly(ethylene terephthalate) by enzymatic degradation

Researchers examined the structural decay of poly(ethylene terephthalate) through enzymatic degradation as a sustainable recycling strategy, finding this approach requires neither energy nor harsh solvents, offering a promising path for addressing microplastic pollution from PET products.

2025 Polymer Journal
Article Tier 2

Determinants for an Efficient Enzymatic Catalysis in Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Degradation

This review covers the current state of enzymatic PET degradation, examining which enzymes act on PET, how protein engineering has improved their activity, and what challenges remain before enzymatic recycling can be deployed at industrial scale.

2023 Catalysts 19 citations
Article Tier 2

Simulation Assisted Improvement of Plastic Degradation Enzyme PETase based Machine Learning Tools

Machine learning tools combined with molecular simulation were used to improve the performance of PETase, a plastic-degrading enzyme, for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) biodegradation. The approach identified key structural mutations that enhanced enzyme stability and catalytic efficiency, advancing enzymatic PET recycling.

2024 Theoretical and Natural Science
Article Tier 2

An archaeal lid-containing feruloyl-esterase degrades polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

This study identified the first archaeal enzyme capable of degrading PET plastic, characterizing its structure and biochemical properties. Expanding the diversity of organisms with PET-degrading enzymes could accelerate the development of biological strategies for breaking down the microplastics contaminating marine and terrestrial environments.

2023
Article Tier 2

Enzymatic Remediation of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)–Based Polymers for Effective Management of Plastic Wastes: An Overview

Enzymatic approaches for remediating PET-based plastic waste were reviewed, covering PETase and related enzymes that can break PET into reusable monomers. Enzyme engineering strategies to improve thermostability and catalytic efficiency are discussed as a pathway to scalable biological PET recycling.

2020 Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 193 citations
Article Tier 2

Engineered polyethylene terephthalate hydrolases: perspectives and limits

This review examines progress in engineering enzymes that can break down PET plastic, the material used in most beverage bottles and synthetic textiles. Researchers found that while significant advances have been made through protein engineering and machine learning, no enzyme yet exists that can efficiently degrade the crystalline form of PET found in real-world waste. The study outlines the key challenges remaining before enzymatic plastic recycling can work at industrial scale, including handling microplastic contamination.

2024 Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 27 citations
Article Tier 2

Molecular Insights into the Enhanced Activity and/or Thermostability of PET Hydrolase by D186 Mutations

This study used molecular simulations to analyze how D186 mutations in PETase affect its activity and thermostability, revealing that non-active-site residues in the enzyme's second shell play an important role in PET plastic degradation efficiency.

2024 Molecules 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Rational redesigning the Acinetobacter haemolyticus lipase KV1 for improved polyethylene terephthalate degradation via molecular docking and dynamics simulations

Researchers redesigned the Acinetobacter haemolyticus lipase KV1 enzyme to improve its ability to degrade polyethylene terephthalate (PET), using computational modeling to identify beneficial mutations. Engineered variants showed significantly enhanced PET hydrolysis activity, advancing the development of enzymatic plastic degradation tools.

2025 Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics
Article Tier 2

Current Knowledge on Polyethylene Terephthalate Degradation by Genetically Modified Microorganisms

This review covers genetically modified microorganisms engineered to degrade polyethylene terephthalate, examining how bioengineering of enzymes such as PETase and enhanced expression systems can overcome the low biodegradation rates of wild-type microorganisms toward this ubiquitous plastic.

2021 Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 92 citations
Article Tier 2

Marine PET Hydrolase (PET2): Assessment of Terephthalate- and Indole-Based Polyesters Depolymerization

Researchers characterized a marine enzyme (PET2) capable of breaking down PET plastic and related polyester materials under relatively mild conditions. Discovering and engineering enzymes that can degrade PET could help address the massive accumulation of PET microplastics in ocean environments.

2023 Preprints.org 1 citations