Background and purpose Glioma is one of the most aggressive primary brain tumors and is incurable. Surgical resection, radiation, and chemotherapies have been the standard treatments for brain tumors, however, they damage healthy tissue. Therefore, there is a need for safe anticancer drug delivery systems. This is particularly true for natural prodrugs such as thymoquinone (TQ), which has a high therapeutic potential for cancers but has poor water solubility and insufficient targeting capacity. We have tailored novel core-shell nanoformulations for TQ delivery against glioma cells using mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) as a carrier. Methods The core-shell nanoformulations were prepared with a core of MSNs loaded with TQ (MSNTQ), and the shell consisted of whey protein and gum Arabic (MSNTQ-WA), or chitosan and stearic acid (MSNTQ-CS). Nanoformulations were characterized, studied for release kinetics and evaluated for anticancer activity on brain cancer cells (SW1088 and A172) and cortical neuronal cells-2 (HCN2) as normal cells. Furthermore, they were evaluated for caspase-3, cytochrome c, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis to understand the possible anticancer mechanism. Results TQ release was pH-dependent and different for core and core-shell nanoformulations. A high TQ release from MSNTQ was detected at neutral pH 7.4, while a high TQ release from MSNTQ-WA and MSNTQ-CS was obtained at acidic pH 5.5 and 6.8, respectively; thus, TQ release in acidic tumor environment was enhanced. The release kinetics fitted with the Korsmeyer–Peppas kinetic model corresponding to diffusion-controlled release. Comparative in vitro tests with cancer and normal cells indicated a high anticancer efficiency for MSNTQ-WA compared to free TQ, and low cytotoxicity in the case of normal cells. The core-shell nanoformulations significantly improved caspase-3 activation, cytochrome c triggers, cell cycle arrest at G2/M, and apoptosis induction compared to TQ. Conclusion Use of MSNs loaded with TQ permit improved cancer targeting and opens the door to translating TQ into clinical application. Particularly good results were obtained for MSNTQ-WA.

Targeted drug delivery offers great opportunities for treating cancer. Here, we developed a novel anticancer targeted delivery system for piperine (Pip), an alkaloid prodrug derived from black pepper that exhibits anticancer effects. The tailored delivery system comprises aggregated hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HAPs) functionalized with phosphonate groups (HAP-Ps). Pip was loaded into HAPs and HAP-Ps at pH 7.2 and 9.3 to obtain nanoformulations. The nanoformulations were characterized using several techniques and the release kinetics and anticancer effects investigated in vitro. The Pip loading capacity was >20%. Prolonged release was observed with kinetics dependent on pH, surface modification, and coating. The nanoformulations fully inhibited monolayer HCT116 colon cancer cells compared to Caco2 colon cancer and MCF7 breast cancer cells after 72 h, whereas free Pip had a weaker effect. The nanoformulations inhibited ~60% in HCT116 spheroids compared to free Pip. The Pip-loaded nanoparticles were also coated with gum Arabic and functionalized with folic acid as a targeting ligand. These functionalized nanoformulations had the lowest cytotoxicity towards normal WI-38 fibroblast cells. These preliminary findings suggest that the targeted delivery system comprising HAP aggregates loaded with Pip, coated with gum Arabic, and functionalized with folic acid are a potentially efficient agent against colon cancer.