ArticleBMC complementary medicine and therapies2023
Thymoquinone, piperine, and sorafenib combinations attenuate liver and breast cancers progression: epigenetic and molecular docking approaches.
Article in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of herbal medicine for liver cancer treatment as revealed by a bibliometric and visualization analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Piperine as a Multifunctional Epigenetic Modulator: Integrative Molecular Insights into Cancer and Chronic Disease Therapy.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Impact of cytosine and piperine on colorectal cancer progression based on Mendelian randomization and functional validation.Discover oncology · 2026Article
- Therapeutic potential of diosgenin in hepatocellular carcinoma through molecular mechanisms and nanodelivery strategies.Discover oncology · 2026Review
- MicroRNA-phytochemical interactome targeting thioredoxin-interacting protein: a narrative review at the nexus of RNA therapeutics, cancer biology, and metabolic regulation.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
- Natural G-Quadruplex Stabilizers: A Targeted Strategy for Breast Cancer Therapy.Drug design, development and therapy · 2026Review
- Association of thymoquinone-induced changes in PINK1, DRP1, TFEB, and cytochrome c expression with mitochondrial dynamics and apoptosis in HepG2 and HDF cells.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2025Article
- Molecular docking insights into miR-155 and VEGF synergy: colorectal cancer detection through AI-enhanced integration of molecular biomarkers and clinical risk assessment.European journal of medical research · 2025Article
- Piperine induces cellular stresses, apoptosis, and cytotoxicity via JNK signaling and has concentration-dependently additive or synergistic effects with sorafenib in hepatocellular carcinoma: an in-vitro study.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- TQFL19, a Novel Derivative of Thymoquinone (TQ), Plays an Essential Role by Inhibiting Cell Growth, Metastasis, and Invasion in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- From laboratory to clinic: opportunities and challenges of functional food active ingredients in cancer therapy.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- Phytoactive Molecules and Nanodelivery Approaches for Breast Cancer Treatment: Current and Future Perspectives.Current pharmaceutical biotechnology · 2025Review
- Assessing multi-target antiviral and antioxidant activities of natural compounds against SARS-CoV-2: an integrated in vitro and in silico study.Bioresources and bioprocessing · 2024Article
- Formulation of silymarin surface modified vesicles: In vitro characterization to cell viability assessment.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2024Article
- Sorafenib and Piperine co-loaded PLGA nanoparticles: Development, characterization, and anti-cancer activity against hepatocellular carcinoma cell line.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2024Article
- Probiotic-derived silver nanoparticles target mTOR/MMP-9/BCL-2/dependent AMPK activation for hepatic cancer treatment.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2024Article
- Potential anticancer properties and mechanisms of thymoquinone in colorectal cancer.Cancer cell international · 2023Review
- Extraction, Characterization, and Evaluation of the Cytotoxic Activity of Piperine in Its Isolated form and in Combination with Chemotherapeutics against Gastric Cancer.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The dual face of microglia (M1/M2) as a potential target in the protective effect of nutraceuticals against neurodegenerative diseases.Frontiers in aging · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTraditional herbal medicine has been used for centuries to cure many pathological disorders, including cancer. Thymoquinone (TQ) and piperine (PIP) are major bioactive constituents of the black seed (Nigella sativa) and black pepper (Piper nigrum), respectively. The current study aimed to explore the potential chemo-modulatory effects, mechanisms of action, molecular targets, and binding interactions after TQ and PIP treatments and their combination with sorafenib (SOR) against human triple-negative breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) and liver cancer (HepG2) cells.
methodsWe determined drug cytotoxicity by MTT assay, cell cycle, and death mechanism by flow cytometry. Besides, the potential effect of TQ, PIP, and SOR treatment on genome methylation and acetylation by determination of DNA methyltransferase (DNMT3B), histone deacetylase (HDAC3) and miRNA-29c expression levels. Finally, a molecular docking study was performed to propose potential mechanisms of action and binding affinity of TQ, PIP, and SOR with DNMT3B and HDAC3.
resultsCollectively, our data show that combinations of TQ and/or PIP with SOR have significantly enhanced the SOR anti-proliferative and cytotoxic effects depending on the dose and cell line by enhancing G2/M phase arrest, inducing apoptosis, downregulation of DNMT3B and HDAC3 expression and upregulation of the tumor suppressor, miRNA-29c. Finally, the molecular docking study has identified strong interactions between SOR, PIP, and TQ with DNMT3B and HDAC3, inhibiting their normal oncogenic activities and leading to growth arrest and cell death.
conclusionThis study reported TQ and PIP as enhancers of the antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects of SOR and addressed the mechanisms, and identified molecular targets involved in their action.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.