Study on the production of thermostable polyethylene hydrolase

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K05387
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 38030:Applied biochemistry-related
• Research Institution: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
• Principal Investigator: Shohei Mine 国立研究開発法人産業技術総合研究所, 生命工学領域, 主任研究員 (70415751)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: ポリエチレンテレフタラーと / プラスチック / 酵素 / 安定性 / 立体構造

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Research and development for the practical application of plastic degrading enzymes was carried out. By extracting the heat-sensitive amino acids based on the three-dimensional structural information and modifying them with appropriate amino acids, we succeeded in improving the thermostability by more than 20°C and the PET-degrading activity by more than 10-fold compared to the wild-type enzyme. Compared to the modified enzyme published in Nature in 2022, this modified enzyme is more than 10°C more thermostable while maintaining the same activity, allowing the enzymatic reaction to be carried out over a longer period of time, resulting in a significant reduction in the cost of PET degradation. This research and development is considered to be an achievement beyond initial expectations, as it has succeeded in producing an enzyme with good performance that has the potential to be globally competitive.

Free Research Field

タンパク質工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

難分解性プラスチックの有効利用については、資源循環型システムの構築が大きな社会課題である。例えば、PET廃棄物の一般的なリサイクルプロセスにおいては、複合材料や添加物などの混入で再生素材が劣化する点などがリサイクルへのハードルとなっている。本研究で開発された耐熱性PET分解酵素は70℃の温度でも利用可能であり、且つ、添加物存在下でもプラスチックをモノマー単位まで分解することができる。本研究で得られた酵素改良技術を利用することで品質劣化の少ないケミカルリサイクルの展開が期待される。