Saturday, August 30, 2025 8/30/2025

De Novo Synthesis of Collagen-Like Polymers for Biomedical Applications

Award Number: R16GM153655
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GENERAL MEDICAL SCIENCES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/01/2024
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2028

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

De Novo Synthesis of Collagen-Like Polymers for Biomedical Applications - Project Summary Collagen has been used for biomedical applications for many decades due to its unsurpassed biocompatibility and chemically tunable mechanical properties. There is a growing need for processible collagen due to rapidly developing tissue and organ engineering. The major source of raw collagen is animal tissue; thus, safety and possible contamination are major concerns. Current attempts to make synthetic collagen-like materials start from collagen-like peptides synthesized by classical solid-phase peptide synthesis, and thus, is not suitable for large- scale preparation and has little potential for clinical translation. We propose to develop a new approach to address an unmet need in synthesis of peptide polymers: controlling the polymer sequence and at the same time generating high molecular weight polymers. More specifically, we aim to develop collagen-like polymers by de novo synthesis starting from tripeptide ProHypGly-N-carboxyanhydride (NCA) and by ring opening lead to polymerization via kinetically controlled polycondensation. The ring opening polymerization of NCA is a very well- established method of synthetizing peptide polymers from single amino acids. The polymer synthesis can be controlled to yield high molecular weight homopolymers, block-copolymers, and branched and functional polymers. However, the problem of controlling the sequence of amino acids within the polymer has not been resolved. We outline two synthetic routes to synthesize the monomer N-Boc-ProHyp(OtBu)Gly-NCA for the synthesis of collagen-like polymers. Moreover, we propose the simultaneous deprotection of Boc group in tripeptide NCA revealing an open N-terminus, as well as the initiation of kinetically controlled polycondensation leading to collagen-like polymer. While the monodisperse polymers are viewed as better suited for clinical translation, we postulate that having a polydisperse collagen-like polymer will enable self-assembly into the triple helix conformation that is required for mechanical stability of collagen-like matrix. The helical structure of the collagen-like polymers will be observed with Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy. The biocompatibility of the collagen polymer will be evaluated with Human Dermal Fibroblast cell culture and mechanical characterization will be performed at UC San Diego Materials Research Science and Engineering Center. The proposed synthesis and characterization methods have been evaluated for safety and accessibility, because all experiments and data analysis will be performed by undergraduate and MS graduate students. We envision that the development of this novel approach will open the door to synthesis of many types of polymer peptides with short repeatable peptide sequences (e.g., elastin-like and RGD peptides).


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $150,500 )
2025	2025	CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY LONG BEACH RESEARCH FOUNDATION	6300 E STATE UNIVERSITY DR STE 332	LONG BEACH	CA	90815	LOS ANGELES	USA	Biomedical Research and Research Training	000	2	7/21/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$150,500
														Subtotal = $150,500

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $141,947 )
2024	2024	CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY LONG BEACH RESEARCH FOUNDATION	6300 E STATE UNIVERSITY DR STE 332	LONG BEACH	CA	90815	LOS ANGELES	USA	Biomedical Research and Research Training	000	1	7/1/2024	NEW	$141,947
														Subtotal = $141,947

Grand Total All Awards = $292,447

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

De Novo Synthesis of Collagen-Like Polymers for Biomedical Applications

Award Number: R16GM153655

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GENERAL MEDICAL SCIENCES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/01/2024

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2028

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer