Thymoquinone, piperine, and sorafenib combinations attenuate liver and breast cancers progression: epigenetic and molecular docking approaches

BACKGROUND: Traditional 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. METHODS: We 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. RESULTS: Collectively, 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. CONCLUSION: This 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. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12906-023-03872-6.