Enhancement of the degradation capacity of IsPETase for PET plastic degradation by protein engineering

Yidi Liu; Zhanzhi Liu; Zhiyong Guo; Tingting Yan; Changxu Jin; Jing Wu

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154947

Enhancement of the degradation capacity of IsPETase for PET plastic degradation by protein engineering

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Aug 15:834:154947. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154947. Epub 2022 Mar 30.

Authors

Yidi Liu¹, Zhanzhi Liu¹, Zhiyong Guo¹, Tingting Yan¹, Changxu Jin¹, Jing Wu²

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; School of Biotechnology and Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; School of Biotechnology and Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China. Electronic address: jingwu@jiangnan.edu.cn.

PMID: 35367265
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154947

Abstract

The enormous waste of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic has a great negative impact on the ecological environment because of its chemical inertia. To reduce the environmental threat posed by PET plastic, researchers gradually concentrate on the biodegradation of PET plastic. In this study, DuraPETase^{N233C/S282C/H214S/S245R} (DuraPETase-4M) was designed through protein engineering, which can be used to improve the efficiency of PET plastic biodegradation. Based on the DuraPETase, a pair of disulfide bonds (N233C/S282C) was added to improve the thermal stability. Meanwhile, the key region flexibility adjustment (H214S) was proposed to enhance the biodegradation capacity of PET plastic. Additionally, protein surface electrostatic charge optimization (S245R) was adopted to improve the binding ability between enzyme and PET plastic. Based on molecular dynamic simulations (MDs), the rationality of the design was further verified. This study provides a strategy for obtaining high-efficiency PET degradation mutants and a new possibility of environmentally friendly plastic degradation.

Keywords: Biodegradation; Enzymatic degradation; IsPETase; Polyethylene terephthalate (PET); Protein engineering.

MeSH terms

Biodegradation, Environmental
Burkholderiales*
Molecular Dynamics Simulation
Plastics / metabolism
Polyethylene Terephthalates* / chemistry
Protein Engineering

Substances

Plastics
Polyethylene Terephthalates