BrainMap

Mihaela Matache

- UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI

Researcher | Teaching staff | Scientific reviewer | PhD supervisor

Web of Science ResearcherID: A-5597-2012

Expertise & keywords

Synthetic Methodology For Large Scale Benfotiamine Production Call name: P 2 - SP 2.1 - Proiect experimental - demonstrativ
PN-III-P2-2.1-PED-2021-2529 2022 - 2024

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO); MICROSIN SRL (RO)

Affiliation:

Project website: http://www.bensynth.unibuc.ro

Abstract:

Benfotiamine is a synthetic prodrug, analogue of thiamine, also known as vitamin B1, essential for good quality of life. It is available solely or as supplementary diets in treatment of neurological and diabeted-related diseases, as the active ingredient of many drugs available on the international market, such as Milgamma, Neurossen, Benfogama. To date, in spite of major market interest and due to lack of expertise and documentation of the technological process, there is no producer of benfotiamine in Romania. Production of benfotiamine would give access to other finished drug producers to the active ingredient, with the clear benefit of a better presence in the national and European market. A well-known issue in the field is the acute shortage of different medicines in the market for various reasons, most prominent of which is the scarcity of producers around the globe. Although this issue has been apparent in the last decade, COVID-19 crisis put the spotlight on Europe’s inability to quickly manufacture active ingredients and other supplies in dire need for a medical emergency. The need of a national producer, as well as for developing extended production capabilities and know-how is clear: it prevents market-shortage in case of any event with a current manufacturer. In this context, Microsin, the only Romanian company specialized in the organic synthesis of active ingredients for medicines, and the University of Bucharest conjugated their efforts and, through the BENSYNTH project, will develop a chemical synthetic methodology for large scale benfotiamine synthesis, the exact goal of this call. The methodology developed through BENSYNTH will be validated in the laboratory (TRL3) and further applied at the industrial scale (TRL4/TRL5) by Microsin. The collaborative efforts involve a top higher education and research institution and a private company, having as secondary aim strengthening of the relationship between education, research and industry.

Novel heteroaryl-azo/hydrazone dual switchable systems Call name: P 1 - SP 1.1 - Proiecte de cercetare pentru stimularea tinerelor echipe independente
PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2019-1003 2020 - 2022

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO)

Project website: http://oxaswitch.mihaelamatache.ro

Abstract:

Molecular switches are bistable chemical systems that are able to reversibly interconvert under the influence of external physical or chemical triggers, by constitutional, configurational or conformational changes of the molecular structure. The systems responsive to light are called photoswitches and this field has significantly grown during the past two decades due to various applications in materials or medicinal chemistry. Heteroayl azoswitches have been developed as an alternative to azobenzenes, thanks to their broader structural diversity that result in very different spectral properties, thus solving some of the azobenzenes drawbacks. Although very promising, the field of heteroayl azoswitches is relatively new and there are numerous unanswered questions regarding their structures, properties and mechanisms of actions relationships. OXASWITCH goal is to synthesize a new type of heteroaryl azo (N=N) and/or imino/hydrazone (C=N) containing compounds able to act as molecular switches. The oxadiazoles core will be used as the heteraryl choice and we propose to introduce a second switchable unit (C=N bond) using N-acylhydrazones, so as by a proper structural design, such compounds able to perform the swicthing in a selective and controllable manner.

Fluorescent materials based on fluorescein platform Call name: P 4 - Proiecte de Cercetare Exploratorie
PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0442 2017 - 2019

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO)

Project website: https://www.chimie.unibuc.ro/cercetare/anorganica/FluoMat/FluoMat.pdf

Abstract:

The current proposal is devoted to the design, synthesis, and characterization of novel fluorescent materials based on fluorescein platform. Three types of materials are targeted: i) discrete coordination compounds containing 3d or/and 4f metal ions and functionalized fluorescein based ligands; ii) coordination polymers containing 3d or/and 4f metal ions and fluorescein derivatives; and iii) hybrid organic solids constructed from functionalized fluorescein derivatives and other organic species through specific supramolecular interactions.

The project involves the following specific objectives:

1.Design and synthesis of functionalized fluorescein based ligands able to coordinate specifically to 3d and/or 4f metal ions; structural characterization of these ligands; investigation of the luminescent properties of the ligands; exploration of the sensing abilities of the functionalized fluorescein based ligands towards various metal ions.

2.Synthesis and structural characterization of mono- and binuclear complexes of the functionalized fluorescein based ligands with 3d metal ions and/or lanthanides ions; investigation of the luminescent and magnetic properties of the metallocomplexes.

3.Synthesis and structural characterization of coordination polymers using as building blocks mono- and binuclear complexes of the functionalized fluorescein based ligands with 3d metal ions and/or lanthanides(III) and various neutral and anionic spacers; synthesis and structural characterization of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with carboxylate derivatives of the fluorescein as spacers.

4.Investigation of the luminescent and magnetic properties of the coordination polymers.

5.Synthesis of hybrid organic solids by co-crystallization of functionalized fluorescein derivatives and other organic species using specific supramolecular interactions and investigation of the luminescent properties.

Green synthetic chemistry of bioactive peptides against cancer or multi-drug resistance Call name: P 3 - SP 3.1 - Proiecte de mobilități, România-China (bilaterale)
PN-III-P3-3.1-PM-RO-CN-2018-0059 2018 - 2019

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO); Northwestern Polytechnical University (CN)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO)

Project website: http://www.greenchembiopep.ro

Abstract:

Due to their structural variability, numerous peptides possess remarkable biologic activities which make them promising alternatives to conventional drugs. Although directional synthesis was made possible by the solid-phase procedure, the cost-effective large-scale synthesis of peptides still represents a challenge. In this project we aim to implement a procedure for the green production of peptides at the surface of yeast cells to be further utilized for their potential bioactivity assay using chemo-genomic screenings. The project’s implementation will be ensured through the collective efforts done by the Chinese group (Department of Chemistry of Northwestern Polytechnical University of Xi’an) and the Romanian group (Research Center for Applied Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Bucharest). The collaboration was initiated based on the complementarity between the infrastructure and research expertise of the two groups in the fields of peptide synthesis, biotechnology, and chemo-genomic screening of bioactive compounds.

Mobilitate cercetător Mihaela Matache Call name: P 1 - SP 1.1 - Proiecte de mobilitate pentru cercetatori, 2019
PN-III-P1-1.1-MC-2019-2469 2019 - 2019

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO)

Project website:

Abstract:

Exploring fluorescent organic ligands as functional ion sensors Call name: Projects for Young Research Teams - RUTE -2014 call
PN-II-RU-TE-2014-4-0808 2015 - 2017

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO)

Project website: http://orgsense.mihaelamatache.ro

Abstract:

Discovery of new functional materials with enhanced optoelectronic properties or able to host small-molecules of great interest has been largely investigated during the past decades. Organic-inorganic hybrids are valuable candidates for construction of such functional materials and design and synthesis of organic compounds able to lead in combination with metal-ions to new materials represent a cutting-edge research of the 21st century. In an attempt to combine the principles of the hydrazone-based Dynamic Covalent Chemistry (DCC) as an efficient tool for identification of synthetic receptors and the remarkable photophysical properties of the 1,3,4-oxadiazoles (which are efficiently achieved by oxidative cyclisation of N-acylhydrazones under mild condition using hypervalent iodine reagents) the project proposes synthesis of novel organic compounds able to act as receptors for metal-ions and/or organic small-molecules and/or bearing fluorescent/phosphorescent properties. The photophysical properties of the synthesized cyclic/acyclic hydrazone based compounds and heterocycles as well as their complexes with metal-ions/organic small-molecules shall also be explored.

Multiplexed platform for HPV genotyping – MultiplexGen Call name: Joint Applied Research Projects - PCCA 2013 - call
PN-II-PT-PCCA-2013-4-1434 2014 - 2017

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE CERCETARE- DEZVOLTARE PENTRU MICROTEHNOLOGIE - IMT BUCURESTI INCD

Project partners: INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE CERCETARE- DEZVOLTARE PENTRU MICROTEHNOLOGIE - IMT BUCURESTI INCD (RO); GENETIC LAB S.R.L. (RO); UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO)

Project website: http://www.imt.ro/multiplexgen/index.php

Abstract:

MultiplexGen project addresses a current problem in medical diagnosis, detection in an accurate and specific way of Human papillomavirus (HPV) and sets out to explore specific solutions from micro- nanotechnology to overcome the limitations of the conventional tests, which are not quantitative and exclude multiplexing. The aim of the project is to develop a high sensitivity multiplexed platform which consists of different functional levels, and as a consequence is generic named “multilevel system”. It is based on hybrid organic-inorganic / bio-nonbiological assemblies able to enhance diagnostic capabilities by exploiting the bridge between bio-systems and micro-nanotechnologies, thus overcoming many of the limitations of the existing methods for Human papillomavirus (HPV) detection and genotyping.

This proposal has evolve as a result of numerous discussions initiated by researchers from the clinical laboratory - SME – GeneticLab with their colleagues from Laboratory of Nanobiotechnology - IMT (LN-IMT) about various specific issues they encountered in their activity related to HPV genotyping by capillary electrophoresis kit, which are identified as primary technical and scientific barriers that will be lifted by carrying out the present project. The long time collaboration encouraged them to believe that IMT will find a technological answer to the problem posed by the classical diagnosis method, and furthermore, Centre of Applied and Organic Chemistry - UB (CAOC) will provide a theoretical understanding of the processes and phenomena taking place in HPV genotyping.

The issues supposed to be solved related to the mentioned thematic area, which represents the secondary objectives of the project, are encompassing the fundamental and technological knowledge and are parts of our functional model demonstration, as following: (i) to obtain a microarray based technology for accurate HPV genotyping; (ii) to improve the up to now reported results in terms of sensitivity / selectivity by connecting the biochip to a microfluidic system; (iii) to indicate the optimum design for biochip to allow parallel detection and in this way confirmation of results; (iv) to propose a heterogeneous technology for integration and 3D packaging and correpondingly a functional hybrid assembly of all these modules for a further disposable system developing.

Therefore, an extensive investigation and optimization of the benefits that our knowledge in genetics, microfluidic technology, microarray technology, surface biofunctionalization, as well as opto-electrical read-out signal analyses are able to bring a valuable tool to a medical diagnostic laboratory, a chip class of devices, with important specific HPV detection / genotyping application. For example, combining the fields of microfluidics and DNA microarrays, the advantages of both directions can be exploited simultaneously, mediated by valuable new knowledge about biointeractions and biohybrid assembling.

Besides the envisaged final outcome of this project, the functional model of hybrid multilevel system for HPV genotyping, the modules and even more, each specific technology improvement are of high value by themselves each of them being independently used thenceforth. State-of-the-art scientific results in all of the disciplines involved will be the direct project outcomes, which will be proven by the publications on microfluidics, on-chip sample preparation, and on clinical comparison of HPV detection technologies in international journals and at international conferences.

Identification of new modulators of calcium-regulated processes using genomic and chemogenomic screens in yeast Call name: Joint Applied Research Projects - PCCA 2013 - call
PN-II-PT-PCCA-2013-4-0291 2014 - 2017

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO); INSTITUTUL DE BIOCHIMIE (RO); INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE CERCETARE- DEZVOLTARE PENTRU MICROTEHNOLOGIE - IMT BUCURESTI INCD (RO); APEL LASER S.R.L. (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO)

Project website: http://www.calchemgen.ro/

Abstract:

Calcium ions are used by virtually all eukaryotic cells to signal information about the environment and the physiological state of the cell, or to regulate various cellular processes such as initiation of gene expression, alterations in cell shape, membrane fusion, or programmed cell death. Excessive or unregulated levels of calcium induce a variety of drastic defects, such as uncontrolled cell proliferation, aberrant cell morphology, or cell death, leading to disruption of normal metabolism and initiation of various diseases. The versatility of calcium-mediated regulation of key physiological processes requires extensive research to identify the interplay between calcium signaling, mechanisms of diseases and discovery of new drugs.

The aim of this project is to utilize Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells to unravel new insights into the calcium-regulated cell mechanisms and to investigate the applicability of in house newly-synthesized chemicals as novel therapeutic and imaging agents, selected through interactions with the calcium-dependent pathway components. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a unicellular eukaryotic organism extensively used for the study of conserved processes and for getting information that can be further extrapolated to complex organisms like humans. The current proposal was initiated by highly-promising preliminary results obtained in the laboratories of the coordinating group. These results are based on novel and spectacular cell modifications which mimic aberrations in fundamental processes such as cell shape, cell polarity, and cell proliferation, representing the center of a complex network of research which will be established by the project.

The project will imply systemic investigations such as genomic profilings paralleled by chemo-genomic screens designed to identify new interactions between small molecules and calcium-related biologic processes. The proposed work will provide an unprecedented coverage on structure-function information, facilitating the analysis of synergistic and antagonistic interactions between molecular components of calcium-related metabolism. The project is multidisciplinary, involving a plethora of aspects related to cell and molecular biology, genetics, chemical synthesis and analysis, high-throughput screening, bioinformatics and imaging.

This project will be carried out by a consortium of four partner groups with relevant research and innovation expertise: University of Bucharest (as coordinating organization, CO), Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy (Partner P1), National Institute of Research and Development for Microtechnology (Partner P2), and a small enterprise, Apel Laser (Partner P3). The consortium was established based on the state-of-the-art infrastructure already existent in the implementing institutions and on the strong complementarities between the research and market expertise of the partner groups.

7th EuCheMS Chemistry Congress "Molecular frontiers and global challenges" Call name: P 1 - SP 1.1 - Proiecte de mobilitate pentru cercetatori
PN-III-P1-1.1-MC-2018-0455 2018 -

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA BUCURESTI (RO)

Project website:

Abstract:

FILE DESCRIPTION	DOCUMENT
List of research grants as project coordinator or partner team leader
Significant R&D projects for enterprises, as project manager
R&D activities in enterprises
Peer-review activity for international programs/projects