“Green” Synthesis of Cytotoxic Silver Nanoparticles Based on Secondary Metabolites of Lavandula Angustifolia Mill.

In this study, we used “green” synthesis to prepare silver nanoparticles (NPs) from aqueous plant and callus extracts of the narrow-leaved lavender Lavandula angustifolia Mill. 35.4 ± 1.6 nm and 56.4 ± 2.4 nm nanoparticles, colloidally stable in phosphate-buffered saline, were synthesized using the plant extract and the callus extract, respectively. NPs were characterized by spectrophotometry, dynamic light scattering, and scanning electron microscopy. We studied the dynamics of the nanoparticle synthesis and evaluated the cytotoxic properties of the plant extract-based NPs. Modification of NPs with bovine serum albumin demonstrated that blockage of the nanoparticle surface completely suppressed NP cytotoxic activity in vitro. The synthesized NPs possess localized surface plasmon resonance properties and are of small sizes, and their surface can be modified with protein molecules, which makes them promising agents for cancer theranostics.