Fabrication of a thermo-sensitive poly(N-acetyl-L-glutamic acid-co-lysine ester) with excellent biocompatibility

Non-cytotoxicity or good biocompatibility is an essential requisite for the thermo-sensitive polymeric materials used in the biomedical fields. In this study, a new poly(N-acetyl-L-glutamic acid-co-lysine ester) (PGAL) with excellent thermo-sensitivity and biocompatibility is synthesized from natural lysine and glutamic acid. The chemical structures of the monomers and polymers are determined by ¹H NMR, FTIR spectrum, and GPC. PGAL shows a reversible lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of 17.3–31.7 °C, and the thermo-sensitivity is affected by its molecular weight, structure, and concentration. The viability of HeLa cells in 0.01–10 μg/mL PGAL solution is found to be in a range of 98–110 % after 24, 48, and 72 h of incubation. To sum up, this new thermo-sensitive PGAL has excellent biocompatibility that makes it a promising material in the biomedical fields.