Typha capensis—An Electron Rich Resource For The Synthesis of Phytochemical-Encapsulated Gold Nanoparticles Through Green Nanotechnology Keenau Pearce1,4,5, Kavita Katti1,2, Menka Khhobchandani1,2, Melissa May1, Ralf Henkel4,5, Kattesh V. Katti1,2,3,4 1) Institute of Green Nanotechnology, University of Missouri, Columbia 2) Department of Radiology, 3) Department of Physics, University of Missouri, Columbia 4) Center of Green Nanotechnology, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa 5) Department of Medical Biosciences, University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa B Introduction: Typha capensis, a widely used medicinal plant in South Africa, has been found to be a rich source of antioxidants, inhibiting both reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species. The antioxidant capacity of such plant species serves as a reservoir of electrons to transport them into gold salt for the production of gold nanoparticles through green nanotechnology. Our objective was to utilize the rich antioxidant capacity of Typha capensis for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles, encapsulated with cocktail of phytochemicals, for effective delivery as novel nanomedicines. A Materials and Methods: The gold nanoparticles were characterized by measuring the Plasmon wavelength, hydrodynamic size, visualised using TEM, average particle size distribution calculated, in vitro stability in various media tested. Finally, toxicity of these particles was investigated in prostate cancer (LNCaP) and Benign prostatic hyperplasia (PWR-1E) cells by performing the MTT assay. Figure 1: Typha capensis. A: Plant in it natural habitat. B: Typha capensis rhizome Conclusion: Highly stable gold nanoparticles, encapsulated with a plethora of phytochemicals from Typha capensis, have been synthesized through a single step, which displayed great stability under in vitro condition. However, greater toxicity towards LNCaP and PWR-1E was yielded by the extract when compared to the AuNP’s. Results: Spectroscopic analysis (Figure 5A) of Typha capensis gold nanoparticles (Typha AuNP’s) displayed peaks at 540 nm, calculated particle size distribution (Figure 4B) showed an average diameter of 27.9 nm, TEM imaging (Figure 4A) displayed spherically shaped, un-agglomorated nanoparticles, showing no deterioration under in vitro conditions (Figure 5B). Comparative cell viability showed significant (P = 0.0139, P = 0.0027 and P = 0.0004) toward LNCaP cells (Figure 2) over 24 hours and significant (P = 0.0177 and P < 0.0001) differences over 72 hours. Similarly, significant (P = 0.0106 and P < 0.0001) differences were observed in PWR-1E (Figure 3) over 24 hours, along with significant (P = 0.0014, P < 0.0001 and P = 0.0068) differences over 72 hours. Acknowledgements We thank MU Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (MU-iCATS) and the University of Missouri Office of Undergraduate Research (OUGR)  for supporting this research and training of Keenau Pearce. We also thank the Institute of Green Nanotechnology for funding this research. 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 Control 12.5 25 50 200 AuNP's Extract P = 0,0139 P = 0,0027 P = 0,0004 AuNP’s and extract (µl/ml) Cell viability (%) A 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 Control 12.5 25 50 200 AuNP's Extract P = 0,0177 P < 0,0001 AuNP’s and extract (µl/ml) Cell viability (%) B A 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 Diameter (nm) Frequency B 27.9 nm. Figure 2: Comparative cell viability of LNCaP cells after 24 (A) and 72 (B) hours of incubation with Typha-AuNP’s and T. capensis extract. Figure 4: TEM imaging of Typha-AuNP’s (A) and particle size distribution of Typha-AunP’s (B). 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 Control 12.5 25 50 200 AuNP's Extract P = 0,0106 P < 0,0001 AuNP’s and extract (µl/ml) Cell viability (%) 400 500 600 700 800 0.0 0.5 1.0 Wavelength (nm) A b s o r a n c e 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 Control 12.5 25 50 200 AuNP's Extract P = 0,0014 P < 0,0001 P = 0,0068 AuNP’s and extract (µl/ml) Cell viability (%) A B 400 500 600 700 800 0.0 0.5 1.0 Wavelength (nm) A b s o r a n c e Control NaCl Histidine HSA BSA PBS Cysteine 540 nm Figure 5: Spectroscopy of Typha AunP’s. (A) and in vitro stability of Typha AuNP’s over 24 hours (B), Figure 3: Comparative cell viability of PWR-1E cells after 24 (A) and 72 (B) hours of incubation with Typha-AuNP’s and T. capensis extract.