Synthesis of activated poly(α,β-malic acid) using N-hydroxysuccinimide and its gelation with collagen as biomaterials

The development of synthetic biodegradable polymers, such as poly(α-hydroxy acid), is particularly important for constructing medical devices, including scaffolds and sutures, and has attracted growing interest in the biomedical field. Here, we report a synthesis method for activated polymalic acid (Su-PMA) by the reaction between synthesized α,β-PMA and N-hydroxysuccinimide (HOSu) in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC), and present an evaluation of the gelation properties of Su-PMA with collagen. The Su content of the resulting Su-PMA is higher than the feed ratio. Su content and chain length of Su-PMA influence gelation properties, as Su-PMA with low Su content formed a gel.