Department of Chemistry

College of Science

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Current Activities

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Gene and Drug Delivery: Efforts in the group rely heavily on collaboration and interdisciplinary research. Our current efforts in gene and RNA delivery were initiated with Dr. Thomas Kissel's laboratory in Marburg, Germany. This work has expanded to include other labs in the United States and Europe. Efforts with anti-sepsis and anti-infective constructs proceed with Dr. Sunil Shaunak of Imperial College in London. We have collaborators in other corners as well in projects at earlier stages of development including computation. At home, our collaborative efforts with the Nanotechnology Commercialization Laboratory with Drs. Scott McNeil and Anil Patri have provided great insight into our paclitaxel-dendrimer constructs. Locally, we work with Dr. Xiankai Sun of UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas on biodistribution and efficacy. On campus, our interest in colon cancer and heavy metal poisoning is furthered by working with Drs. Clint Allred (Nutrition) and Marcetta Darensbourg (Chemistry).

Separation Science: Currently, less a focus of research, we have found that these dendrimers can be synthesized on or attached to nanoporous alumina, silica gels, smectic clays, polystyrene, and a range of other supports. Dendrimer-membrane composites show excellent permeance and selectivity for toluene in nitrogen streams exceeding membranes of PDMS. Organoclays remove atrazine from water with an efficiency that is dependent on the composition of the organic component and the morphology (composition) of the organoclay. Basic inquiries into these systems have led to additional new strategies for remediation.

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Selected Publications

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Mimicking PAMAM Dendrimers with Ampholytic, Hybrid Triazine Dendrimers: A Comparison of Dispersity and Stability. Lalwani, S.; Chouai ,A.; Perez,L.M.; Santiago,V.; Shaunak,S. Simanek, E.E. Macromolecules, 2009, Accepted.

Intercepting triazine dendrimer synthesis with nucleophilic pharmacophores as a general strategy toward drug delivery vehicles. Venditto, V.J.; Allred, K.; Allred, C.D.;Simanek, E.E. Chem. Comm. 2009, Accepted.

Triazine dendrimers as non-viral gene delivery systems: Effects of molecular structure on biological activity. Merkel, O. M.;Mintzer, M. A.; Sitterberg, J.; Bakowsky, U.; Simanek, E. E.; Kissel, T. Bioconj. Chem. 2009, Submitted.

Polycationic triazine-based dendrimers: Effect of peripheral groups on transfection efficiency. Mintzer, M.A.; Merkel, O.M.; Kissel, T.; Simanek, E.E. New J. Chem. 2009, In press.

Lunch with a Scientist: A Cost-Effective Strategy for University and K-12 Partnerships. Pinnick, V.T.; Venditto,V.J.; Duley, M.; Graham, C.; Everett, C.; Simanek, E.E. School Sci. Math. J. 2009, Submitted.

Design, Synthesis, and Characterization of Triazine Dendrimers Bearing Paclitaxel linked by Ester and Ester/Disulfide Linkages. Lim, J.; Chouai, A.; Lo, S-T.; Liu, W.; Sun, X.; Simanek, E.E. Bioconj. Chem. 2009, Submitted.

Scientists' Perspective on Introducing Authentic Inquiry to High School Teachers During an Intensive Three-Week Summer Professional Development Experience. Reubush, L.E.; Grossman, E.L.; Miller, S.A.; North, S.W.; Schielack, J.F.; Simanek, E.E. School Sci. Math. Journal 2009, 109, 3: 162-174.

Electrophoretic Behavior of Anionic Triazine and PAMAM Dendrimers: Methods for Improving Resolution and Assessing Purity Using Capillary Electrophoresis. Lalwani, S.; Venditto, V.J.; Chouai, A.; Rivera, G.E.; Shaunak, S. Simanek, E.E. Macromolecules, 2009, 42, 3152-3161.

Reverse-Selective Membranes formed by Dendrimers on Mesoporous Ceramic Supports. Yoo, S.; Yeu, S.; Sherman, R. L.; Shantz, D.E.; Simanek, E.E.; Ford, D.A. J. Membrane Sci. 2009, 334, 16-22