Cleaning plastic waste with new engineered enzymes

In a recent publication, a team from the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology used Diamond Macromolecular Crystallography beamlines to characterise a new engineered protein selected through direct evolution. The authors selected the catalytic activity of the enzyme to operate more efficiently at elevated temperatures. The most efficient variant protein named HotPETase can function at temperatures up to 70°C. X-ray diffraction was used to analyse the structure of the new engineered protein, and to find major residues involved in the protein stability. The fine resolution of the structure allowed the team to further analyse the catalytic activity.

New opportunity for plastic recycling

This study shows the possibility offered by directed evolution of enzymes with a high throughput screening platform. The development of robust plastic degrading enzymes such as HotPETase, along with the availability of a versatile enzyme engineering platform, make important contributions towards the development of a biotechnological solution to the plastic waste challenge. Structural analysis of proteins can be done routinely at Diamond. Characterisation of these proteins helps scientists to better understand how they work, and how they can be improved for the benefit of society. In this case, the discovery of an enhanced protein will offer new possibilities to the recycling industry.