Viorica Patrulea

Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland

Bacterial infections occur when wound healing fails to reach the final stage of healing, which is usually hindered by the presence of different pathogens. Different topical antimicrobial agents are used to inhibit bacterial growth due to antibiotic failure in reaching the infected site, which is accompanied very often by increased drug resistance a...

Graphical abstract

Significance: The crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) increases dramatically despite all efforts to use available antibiotics or last resort antimicrobial agents. The spread of the AMR, declared as one of the most important health-related issues, warrants the development of new antimicrobial strategies. Recent Advances: Antimicrobial peptides...

Nowadays, topical microbial infections and antimicrobial resistance are global public health challenges. Despite the fact that many different antibiotics have been discovered during the “golden era,” they cannot withstand due to increase in antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial polymers have gained attention due to their unique properties. Chitos...

The rise in multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria has prompted extensive research into antibacterial compounds, as these resistant strains compromise current treatments. This resistance leads to prolonged hospitalization, increased mortality rates, and higher healthcare costs. To address this challenge, the pharmaceutical industry is increasingly expl...

Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) has conventionally been used for cell cryopreservation both in research and in clinical applications, but has long-term cytotoxic effects. Trehalose, a natural disaccharide, has been proposed as a non-toxic cryoprotectant. However, the lack of specific cell membrane transporter receptors inhibits transmembrane transport and...

The burden of bacterial wound infections has considerably increased due to antibiotic resistance to most of the currently available antimicrobial drugs. Herein, for the first time, a chemical coupling of two cationic N‐aryl (pyridyl and aminocinnamyl) chitosan derivatives to antimicrobial peptide dendrimers (AMPDs) of different generations (first,...

The efficacy of transfection vectors to cross the endosomal membrane into the cytosol is a central aspect in the development of nucleic acid-based therapeutics. The challenge remains the same: Delivery, Delivery, Delivery. Despite a rational and appropriate construct of triblock polymeric micelles, which could serve as an ideal platform for the co-...

Implant-associated infections are highly challenging to treat, particularly with the emergence of multidrug-resistant microbials. Effective preventive action is desired to be at the implant site. Surface biofunctionalization of implants through Ag-doping has demonstrated potent antibacterial results. However, it may adversely affect bone regenerati...

The simulation of large molecular systems remains a daunting challenge, which justifies the exploration of novel methodologies to keep computers as an ideal companion tool for everyday laboratory work. Whole micelles bigger than nm in size formed by the self-assembly of hundreds of copolymers containing more than 50 repeating units have until now r...

The global health threat imposed by the fast spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is directing research not only towards the discovery of new antibacterial molecules but also to the repurposing of old drugs, while improving their efficiency and safety [...]

We report herein a new chemical platform for coupling chitosan derivatives to antimicrobial peptide dendrimers (AMPDs) with different degrees of ramification and molecular weights via thiol-maleimide reactions. Previous studies showed that simple incorporation of AMPDs to polymeric hydrogels resulted in a loss of antibacterial activity and augmente...

Due to the lack of safe carriers for the delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA), clinical applications of nucleotide-based therapeutics have been limited. In this study, biodegradable amphiphilic triblock copolymers with tailored molecular weights for each block composed of methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (2000 g/mol), poly(L-lysine) (1300 g/mol)...

Hyaluronic acid (HA) has been known to play an important role in wound healing process. However, the effect of molecular weight (MW) of exogenously administered HA on the wound healing process has not been fully understood. In this study, we investigated HA with different MWs on wound healing process using human epidermal keratinocytes and dermal f...

Bacterial infections occur when wound healing fails to reach the final stage of healing, usually hindered by the presence of different pathogens. Different topical antimicrobial agents are used to inhibit bacterial growth due to antibiotic failure in reaching the infected site accompanied very often by an increased drug resistance and other side ef...

Nowadays, topical microbial infections and antimicrobial resistance are global public health challenges. Despite the fact that many different antibiotics have been discovered during the “golden era”, they cannot withstand due to increase in antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial polymers have gained attention due to their unique properties. Chitos...

Super hydrophilic scaffolds of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) with 3 wt % of acetylated (CNC-Ac) and PEGylated (CNC-PEG) cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) were prepared. PHBV, PHBV/CNC-Ac, and PHBV/CNC-PEG scaffolds were characterized with respect to their morphology by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray microtomography. T...

Supplementary Materials

Nanocomposite scaffolds of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) with 1, 2 and 3% (wt) of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) were produced by thermally induced phase separation. CNC presented an average length of 91 ± 26 nm and average diameter of 7 ± 1 nm, determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Field emission gun scanning electron mi...

Wound healing, when compromised, may be guided by biological cues such as Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD), a peptide known to induce cell adhesion and migration, eventually combined with adapted nanocarriers. Three different formulations were prepared and investigated in vitro for topical application. All formulations were based on carboxylated and trimethylated...

Wound healing, when compromised, may be guided by biological cues such as Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD), a peptide known to induce cell adhesion and migration, eventually combined with adapted nanocarriers. Three different formulations were prepared and investigated in vitro for topical application. All formulations were based on carboxylated and trimethylated...

The crayfish plague agent Aphanomyces astaci is one of the world's most threatening invasive species. Originally from North America, the pathogen is being imported alongside American crayfish species, which are used for various purposes. In this study, we investigated the marginal, currently known distribution area of the pathogen in Eastern Europe...

Amphiphilic cyclodextrins are biocompatible oligosaccharides that can be used for drug delivery especially for the delivery of drugs with solubility problems thanks to their unique molecular structures. In this paper, Paclitaxel was used as a model anticancer drug to determine the inclusion complex properties of amphiphilic cyclodextrins with diffe...

The success of medical threatments with DNA and silencing interference RNA is strongly related to the design of efficient delivery technologies. Cationic polymers represent an attractive strategy to serve as nucleic-acid carriers with the envisioned advantages of efficient complexation, low cost, ease of production, well-defined size, and low polyd...

The supporting information text contains details concerning applied procedures and validation checks. The file is organized in three main sections: S1.1 Replica Exchang Molecular Dynamics, S1.2. Metadynamics: Definition of the Collective Variables, S1.3. Reweighting algorithm procedure, and S1.4 Convergence of the Metadynamics free energy estimatio...

The future success of nucleic acids as therapeutic agents is strongly related with the design of efficient delivery technologies. Cationic polymers represent an attractive strategy to serve as carrier molecule with the envisioned advantages of efficient complexation, low cost, and ease of production. However, the balance between efficacy and toxici...

RGD peptide sequences are known to regulate cellular activities by interacting with α5β1, αvβ5 and αvβ3 integrin, which contributes to the wound healing process. In this study, RGDC peptide was immobilized onto chitosan derivative 1,6-diaminohexane-O-carboxymethyl-N,N,N-trimethyl chitosan (DAH-CMTMC) to display RGDC-promoting adhesion for enhanced...

Formulation of nanoparticulate DNA vaccines requires the assessment of stability and integrity of the components implicated. Stability of cationic nanoparticles made of N-trimethyl chitosan and chondroitin sulfate (TMC nanoparticles) was investigated in aqueous solution and after freeze-drying by characterization of their size, polydispersity index...

Chitosan and its derivatives have attracted great attention due to their properties beneficial for application to wound healing. The main focus of the present review is to summarize studies involving chitosan and its derivatives, especially N,N,N-trimethyl-chitosan (TMC), N,O-carboxymethyl-chitosan (CMC) and O-carboxymethyl-N,N,N-trimethyl-chitosan...

We present here the synthesis of a highly O-carboxymethylated chitosan derivative. First, an improved protocol for the two-step synthesis of N-trimethyl chitosan (TMC) from chitosan was developed, yielding a maximum degree of quaternization (DQ) of up to 46.6%. Successively, the chitosan derivative O-carboxymethyl-N-trimethyl chitosan (CMTMC) was s...

An UPLC method was developed to determine the concentrations of tartrazine (TAR), Congo red (CR), and methyl orange (MO) in aqueous mixtures. The chromatographic method was optimized considering the temperature of the column, the composition of mobile phases and the gradient program. The chosen method has allowed the separation and identification o...

Low molecular weight chitosan, prepared as chitosan beads was used for the adsoption of Tartrazine (TAR), Congo Red (CR) and Methyl Orange (MO). The efficiency of dyes removal from aqueous solution was investigated, therefore samples containing various concentrations of TAR, CR, and MO were mixed with chitosan beads and the adsorption was estimated...

The paper examines copper ion removal and recovery from mining waters using chitosan and cross-linked chitosan beads as insoluble sorbents in acidic and basic solutions. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out as a function of pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, and initial Cu(II) ion concentration. Equilibrium data were fitted using Langmuir...

A simple and rapid analytical method for the simultaneous quantification of three commercial azo dyes—Tartrazine (TAR), Congo Red (CR), and Amido Black (AB) in water is presented. The simultaneous assessment of the individual concentration of an organic dye in mixtures using a spectrophotometric method is a difficult procedure in analytical chemist...

A sound, reliable, time- and cost-efficient method for detection of reducing sugars, based on the well known dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) colorimetric method, adapted for microtiter plates, in a modified water bath with microwave treatment is proposed. Besides the benefic influence on the environment due to the reduction of the volume of the reagent...