Undergraduate Students at National Pukyong University Present Commercialization Potential of Biodegradable Plastic Raw Material '3-HP'

Paper Published in the International Journal 'Process Biochemistry'

National Pukyong University (President Bae Sang-hoon) announced that undergraduate students in the Department of Chemical Engineering have proposed a new synthesis method for the commercialization of the compound ‘3-HP,’ which is gaining attention as a raw material for biodegradable plastics.

Fourth-year students Hanju Jo, Byungsu Koo, and Minkyeong Jeon from the Department of Chemical Engineering at National Pukyong University recently published their paper titled ‘In vitro enzymatic production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid from glycerol via CoA-independent pathway’ (supervised by Professor Seongin Lim) in issue 149 (2025) of an SCIE-level international journal.

Students Hanju Jo, Byungsu Gu, and Minkyeong Jeon from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Pukyong National University. Provided by Pukyong National University

In this paper, they presented a new approach of ‘in vitro production of 3-HP through a cascade reaction of two enzymes (GDHt, KGSADH).’

3-HP is a versatile, high value-added compound recognized for its eco-friendly and economic value, but it faces challenges in commercialization due to low productivity and yield. The current microbial culture production method for 3-HP has limitations because the intermediate metabolite (3-HPA) causes cytotoxicity, which inhibits 3-HP productivity. Additionally, the cost of purifying 3-HP at high purity from culture broth containing large amounts of waste is considerable.

To address these issues, academia and industry in related fields have attempted various approaches to culturing and purifying 3-HP, but the students at National Pukyong University embarked on research using a novel method of in vitro production rather than cellular production.

They successfully achieved recombinant expression and purification of the enzymes GDHt and KGSADH, which are used in 3-HP synthesis, under optimized conditions. By precisely measuring the activity of each enzyme and presenting quantitative activity indicators, they demonstrated the quality of the purified enzymes. The cascade reaction of the two enzymes in vitro synthesized 3-HP from glycerol, overcoming the production inhibition caused by the intermediate metabolite (3-HPA).

Professor Seongin Lim, the supervising professor, explained, “This research is significant in demonstrating the possibility of large-scale in vitro production of 3-HP. It solved the problems of 3-HPA accumulation and cytotoxicity, which were obstacles in microbial culture-based 3-HP production, and simplified the product separation process, presenting a blueprint for an economically viable 3-HP biosynthesis process.”

Student Hanju Jo said, “I am really happy to have succeeded in enzyme expression after many trials and errors while participating as an undergraduate intern in the lab, with the research team working together persistently. We will continue additional research to improve the in vitro production system and integrate various technologies to contribute to the commercialization of 3-HP in Korea.”