Spore-Forming Probiotic-Embedded Biomaterials for Targeted Gut Microplastic Biodegradation

Microplastic (MP) exposure compromises gut barrier integrity, microbial homeostasis, and host immunity to accelerate mucosal dysfunction and disease progression. This necessitates new strategies to address gut MP accumulation concerns. Unlike environmental settings, the gut imposes harsh physiological constraints that restrict conventional plastic biodegradation mechanism feasibility. Spore-forming probiotic (SFP) strains possess intrinsic resilience and diverse plastic degradation metabolic capacities via enzymatic, biosurfactant-mediated, and oxidative pathways; however, their functional deployment is limited by spatial dilution, enzyme instability, and insufficient polymer-microbe contact. This perspective presents SFP-integrated biomaterial platforms as a conceptual framework for enabling controlled gut microbe-MP interactions. Specifically, we discuss how embedding SFPs into engineered microcapsule, hydrogel, and polymer film biomaterials to localize probiotic activity, regulate germination and secretion dynamics, and mediate controlled MP interactions within gut-physiological conditions. We further outline the mechanistic basis of SFP-mediated MP biodegradation and biomaterial design strategies for optimized targeted activity to create future SFP-assisted gut MP therapeutics.