Comparative biochemistry of PET hydrolase-carbohydrate-binding module fusion enzymes on a variety of PET substrates.

Enzyme-driven recycling of PET has now become a fully developed industrial process. With the right pre-treatment, PET can be completely depolymerized within workable timeframes. This has been realized due to extensive research conducted over the past decade, resulting in a large set of engineered PET hydrolases.

Unveiling PET Hydrolase Surface Dynamics through Fluorescence Microscopy.

PET hydrolases are an emerging class of enzymes that are being heavily researched for their use in bioprocessing polyethylene terephthalate (PET). While work has been done in studying the binding of PET oligomers to the active site of these enzymes, the dynamics of PET hydrolases binding to a bulk PET surface is an unexplored area. Here, methods were developed for total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) microscopy to study the adsorption and desorption dynamics of these proteins onto a PET surface.

Protein-plastic interactions: The driving forces behind the high affinity of a carbohydrate-binding module for polyethylene terephthalate.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste is a common pollutant in the environment, mainly due to resistance of the plastic to bio-degradation. Nevertheless, hydrolytic enzymes have been identified with activity on this substrate, which are continually being engineered to increase activity. Some insoluble biological polymers are degraded by enzymes with a multi-domain architecture, comprising of a catalytic domain, and a substrate-binding domain, such as a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM).

Rational Protein Engineering to Increase the Activity and Stability of PETase Using the PROSS Algorithm.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the most widely used polyester plastic, with applications in the textile and packaging industry. Currently, re-moulding is the main path for PET recycling, but this eventually leads to an unsustainable loss of quality; thus, other means of recycling are required. Enzymatic hydrolysis offers the possibility of monomer formation under mild conditions and opens up alternative and infinite recycling paths.

Electron microscopic identification of aberrant melanosomes using a combined dopa/Warthin-Starry technique.

A method combining the DOPA and Warthin-Starry techniques is described in order to positively establish the nature of pleomorphic granules observed in the cytoplasm of cells of putative amelanotic melanoma. The technique identifies these granules as aberrant melanosomes by discretely depositing electron dense silver on suitably prepared sections of DOPA-treated tissue blocks.

Membrane-bound structures at the interface between tumour and dermis in basal cell carcinoma. An ultrastructural study.

During an ultrastructural study of the interface area between tumour and dermis in 23 basal cell carcinoma (BCC), membrane-bound structures were noted in the dermis adjacent to the basal lamina in 12 tumours (52 per cent), but none of the controls. Serial sectioning demonstrated cytoplasmic connections between these structures and tumour cells. Their formation and interaction with adjacent stromal cells is discussed.