Amine-Selective Crosslinking of Collagen via Pre-Activated L-Glutamic Acid for Preserving Hierarchical Structure and Enhancing Mechanical and Biological Performance

Collagen-based biomaterials possess many advantages, such as low immunogenicity, biodegradability, biocompatibility, hydrophilicity, and ease of processability. Nevertheless, natural collagen has inherent limitations as an in vivo scaffold, including insufficient mechanical strength, low thermal stability, and low resistance to enzymatic degradation. To overcome these drawbacks, various approaches have been studied, such as mixing collagen with other biopolymers or inducing physical and chemical