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Related Concept Videos

Hydrolysis01:15

Hydrolysis

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Overview
Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction in which the addition of water breaks down a polymer into its simpler monomer units. For example, peptides break into amino acids, carbohydrates into simple sugars, and DNA into nucleotides. Enzymes often facilitate these processes.
Hydrolysis Reverses Dehydration Synthesis
Complex carbohydrates can be broken down by breaking the bonds between individual sugar units. The reaction breaks a glycosidic bond as water is added to the compound. The...
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Lysosomal Hydrolases01:22

Lysosomal Hydrolases

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Lysosomes are the site for the degradation of macromolecules and biological polymers released during membrane trafficking events such as secretory, endocytic, autophagic, and phagocytic pathways. The membrane-enclosed area of the lysosome, called the lumen, contains hydrolytic enzymes active in an acidic environment. These acid hydrolases are functional at a pH between 4.5 and 5 and are involved in cellular processes such as cell signaling, energy metabolism, restoration of the plasma membrane,...
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Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Acyclic Diene Metathesis (ADMET)00:53

Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Acyclic Diene Metathesis (ADMET)

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Acyclic diene metathesis polymerization or ADMET polymerization involves cross-metathesis of terminal dienes, such as 1,8-nonadiene, to give linear unsaturated polymer and ethylene. As ADMET is a reversible process, the formed ethylene gas must be removed from the reaction mixture to complete the polymerization process.
Similar to cross-metathesis, ADMET also involves the formation of metallacyclobutane intermediate by [2+2] cycloaddition of one of the double bonds of a terminal diene with...
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Esters to Carboxylic Acids: Acid-Catalyzed Hydrolysis01:13

Esters to Carboxylic Acids: Acid-Catalyzed Hydrolysis

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Hydrolysis of esters under acidic conditions proceeds through a nucleophilic acyl substitution. In the presence of excess water, the reaction proceeds in a reversible manner, forming carboxylic acids and alcohols.
During hydrolysis, the ester is first activated towards nucleophilic attack through the protonation of the carboxyl oxygen atom by the acid catalyst. The protonation makes the ester carbonyl carbon more electrophilic. In the next step, water acts as a nucleophile and adds to the...
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Types of Step-Growth Polymers: Polyesters01:20

Types of Step-Growth Polymers: Polyesters

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The introduction of polyesters has brought major development to the textile industry. The wrinkle-free behavior of polyester blends has eliminated the need for starching and ironing clothes.
Polyesters are commonly prepared from terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol; the crude product is known as poly(ethylene terephthalate) or PET. However, polyesters are synthesized industrially by transesterification of dimethyl terephthalate with ethylene glycol at 150 °C. The two reactants and the...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 25, 2025

Fabricating Degradable Thermoresponsive Hydrogels on Multiple Length Scales via Reactive Extrusion, Microfluidics, Self-assembly, and Electrospinning
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Fabricating Degradable Thermoresponsive Hydrogels on Multiple Length Scales via Reactive Extrusion, Microfluidics, Self-assembly, and Electrospinning

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Machine learning-aided engineering of hydrolases for PET depolymerization.

Hongyuan Lu1, Daniel J Diaz2, Natalie J Czarnecki1

  • 1McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.

Nature
|April 28, 2022
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

A novel enzyme, FAST-PETase, efficiently degrades plastic waste, enabling scalable enzymatic recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This breakthrough offers a green solution for plastic pollution and a circular economy for PET materials.

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Microwave-assisted Functionalization of Polyethylene glycol and On-resin Peptides for Use in Chain Polymerizations and Hydrogel Formation
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High-throughput Synthesis of Carbohydrates and Functionalization of Polyanhydride Nanoparticles

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Area of Science:

  • Biotechnology
  • Polymer Science
  • Environmental Science

Background:

  • Plastic waste, particularly polyethylene terephthalate (PET), presents a significant ecological challenge.
  • Enzymatic degradation offers a promising, green, and scalable approach for PET waste recycling.
  • Existing PET hydrolases face limitations in robustness, reaction rates, and direct use of untreated plastics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To engineer a robust and highly active PET hydrolase using structure-based machine learning.
  • To develop a functional, active, stable, and tolerant PETase (FAST-PETase) for efficient PET degradation.
  • To demonstrate the viability of FAST-PETase for industrial-scale enzymatic plastic recycling.

Main Methods:

  • Employed a structure-based machine learning algorithm to engineer a novel PET hydrolase.
  • Introduced five specific mutations (N233K/R224Q/S121E and D186H/R280A) to create FAST-PETase.
  • Evaluated FAST-PETase activity across various temperatures (30–50°C) and pH levels, and tested its efficacy on diverse postconsumer PET products and water bottles.

Main Results:

  • Engineered FAST-PETase exhibits superior PET-hydrolytic activity compared to wild-type and other engineered enzymes.
  • FAST-PETase effectively degraded untreated postconsumer PET from 51 different products within one week.
  • Demonstrated a closed-loop PET recycling process by depolymerizing PET and resynthesizing monomers into new PET.

Conclusions:

  • FAST-PETase represents a significant advancement in enzymatic PET degradation, overcoming limitations of previous hydrolases.
  • The engineered enzyme shows high efficiency and robustness, suitable for direct application on untreated plastic waste.
  • This study validates a viable industrial-scale enzymatic recycling route for PET, contributing to a circular carbon economy.