Plastic-binding peptides as anchors for protein scaffolds on synthetic plastics: opportunities and challenges.

ABSTRACT: Non-biodegradable synthetic plastics are accumulating in the environment and current recycling methods are limited by harsh processing conditions and inferior quality of recycled products. While biological approaches to plastic degradation offer promise, available enzymes remain inefficient at degrading synthetic plastics due to their inherent physical and chemical properties. Inspired by nature's strategies for degrading resistant natural polymers like cellulose and chitin with enzyme complexes co-localized to polymer surfaces, we quantitatively evaluated a range of previously reported plastic-binding peptides (PBPs) for their capacity to anchor soluble proteins specifically to polystyrene and polypropylene. Among the PBPs tested, LCIM3 demonstrated better specificity when compared to oth

SUBMITTER: Retnadhas S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12558382 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature