Bogdan Florin Craciun

Petru Poni Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry · Advanced Research Center for Bionanoconjugates and Biopolymers

Cargocomplexes play a vital role in non-viral delivery methods due to their capacity to target certain cells (or cells through the cell-division cycle) and inject their (macro)molecular “cargo” into them. The development of gene carriers that can efficiently transport and deliver genetic material into human-targeted cells with minimal toxicity is a...

Biocompatible hydrophilic polyethylene glycol (PEG) is widely used in biomedical applications, such as drug or gene delivery, tissue engineering or as an antifouling component in biomedical devices. Experimental studies have shown that the size of PEG can weaken polycation-polyanion interactions, like those between branched polyethyleneimine (b-PEI...

In order to correct the genetic defects that are fundamental reasons for many pathologies, gene therapy uses exogenous nucleic acids for intentional modulation of gene expression in specific cells. Due to the large size and the negative charge of exogenous nucleic acids, the delivery of these macromolecules is typically mediated by carriers or vect...

We report novel molecules incorporting the nontoxic squalene scaffold and different carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (CAIs). Potent inhibitory action, in the low nanomolar range, was detected against isoforms hCA II for sulfonamide derivatives, which proved to be selective against this isoform over the tumor‐associate hCA IX and XII isoforms. On the o...

The aim of this study was to present new insights of the antimicrobial activity of piperine extracted from Piper nigrum as compared to commercial piperine and to the activity of other similar compounds (namely: protocatechuic acid, L-ascorbic acid, L-tyrosine and syringic acid) and in synergism with ampicillin and amphotericin B. For this, piperine...

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) functionalization of non-viral vectors represents a powerful tool through the formation of an overall surface charge shielding ability, which is fundamental for efficient nucleic acid delivery systems. The degree of non-viral vector PEGylation and the molecular weight of utilized PEG is crucial since the excessive use of P...

When studying polyethylenimine derivatives as nonviral vectors for gene delivery, among the important issues to be addressed are high toxicity, low transfection efficiency, and nucleic acid polyplex condensation. The molecular weight of polyethylenimine, PEGylation, biocompatibility and, also, supramolecular structure of potential carrier can all i...

In recent decades great attention was given to lipid-based drug carriers due to their capability to increase pharmacokinetics, decrease toxicity, and upsurge the therapeutic index of the associated drugs, prompting the search for innovative nano-carriers to safely transport drugs or genes to specific cells. Herein, we describe a simple method to ob...

A series of enantiomerically pure −SiMe2NR2 (R = Me, Et) substituted pentadienyl ligands were prepared starting from the natural product (1R)-(−)-myrtenal. Deprotonation with a Schlosser superbase yields the corresponding potassium salts, which were characterized by various spectroscopic techniques. In solution these neutral N-donor-substituted pen...

With the natural product (1R)-(-)-myrtenal as the starting material, a series of chiral pentadienes (Pdl*) such as dimethylnopadiene (2a), methylphenylnopadiene (2b), and methylnopadiene (2c) have been prepared by Wittig reactions. Deprotonation with the Schlosser base gives the corresponding potassium pentadienides 3a-K-3c-K, whose structures were...

The synthesis of some new 1,3-dithiol-2-ylidene derivatives has been achieved by the nucleophitic attack of in-situ generated nucleophiles at the C(2) position of the 1, 3-dithiolium ring, using mesoionic compounds as starting materials. The newly obtained derivatives were characterized by NMR spectrometry and IR spectroscopy.