Background: As part of our continuing quest to enhance the efficacy of bioactive phytochemicals in cancer therapy, we report an innovative green nanotechnology approach toward the use of resveratrol for the production of biocompatible resveratrol-conjugated gold nanoparticles (Res-AuNPs). Our overarching aim is to exploit the inherent pro-apoptotic properties of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) through synergistic anti-tumor characteristics of resveratrol, with the aim of developing a new class of green nanotechnology-based phytochemical-embedded AuNPs for applications in oncology. Method: Resveratrol was used to reduce Au 3+ to Au 0 for the synthesis of Res-AuNPs at room temperature and gum arabic (GA) was used to further encapsulate the nanoparticulate surface to increase the overall stability of the AuNPs. This comprehensive study involves the synthesis, full characterization and in vitro stability of Res-AuNPs in various biological media for their ultimate applications as anti-cancer agents against human breast (MDAMB-231), pancreatic (PANC-1) and prostate (PC-3) cancers. Results: This strategy to systematically increase the corona of resveratrol on AuNPs, in order to gain insights into the interrelationship of the phytochemical corona on the overall anti-tumor activities of Res-AuNPs, proved successful. The increased resveratrol corona on Res-AuNPs showed superior anti-cancer effects, attributed to an optimal cellular uptake after 24-hour incubation, while GA provided a protein matrix support for enhanced trans-resveratrol loading onto the surface of the AuNPs. Conclusion: The approach described in this study harnesses the benefits of nutraceuticals and nanoparticles toward the development of Res-AuNPs. We provide compelling evidence that the increased corona of resveratrol on AuNPs enhances the bioavailability of resveratrol so that therapeutically active species can be optimally available in vivo for applications in cancer therapy.

Among the most important processes in the self-assembly of the eukaryotic cell is the synthesis of its organelles, specialized biochemical compartments that house processes crucial to cellular physiology. A critical property that governs organelle function is its size. Numerous molecular factors that regulate the sizes of a diverse array of organelles, including the Golgi, mitochondria, peroxisomes and lipid droplets among others, have been identified. However, our understanding of the quantitative principles governing organelle size control remains incomplete. Here, we combine organelle size data from the single-celled eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae and mathematical theory to show that cells can robustly control organelle size fluctuations across a range of organelle sizes. In particular, our framework suggests that organelle size increases in random bursts from a limited pool of building blocks. Bursty organelle growth allows the cell to decouple the average magnitude of organelle size fluctuations from mean organelle size, provided the bursts do not deplete the pool of building blocks from which organelles grow. Bursty growth thus provides a potentially general mechanism by which cells can regulate the noise of the sizes of its subcellular structures.

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