Summary: | Xanthohumol (XN) and isoxanthohumol (IXN), prenylated flavonoids from <i>Humulus lupulus</i>, have been shown to possess antitumor/cancerprotective, antioxidant, antiinflammatory, and antiangiogenic properties. In this study, mesoporous silica (SBA-15) was loaded with different amounts of xanthohumol and isoxanthohumol and characterized by standard analytical methods. The anticancer potential of XN and IXN loaded into SBA-15 has been evaluated against malignant mouse melanoma B16F10 cells. When these cells were treated with SBA-15 containing xanthohumol, an increase of the activity correlated with a higher immobilization rate of XN was observed. Considering the amount of XN loaded into SBA-15 (calculated from TGA), an improved antitumor potential of XN was observed (IC<sub>50</sub> = 10.8 ± 0.4 and 11.8 ± 0.5 µM for SBA-15|XN2 and SBA-15|XN3, respectively; vs. IC<sub>50</sub> = 18.5 ± 1.5 µM for free XN). The main mechanism against tumor cells of immobilized XN includes inhibition of proliferation and autophagic cell death. The MC<sub>50</sub> values for SBA-15 loaded with isoxanthohumol were over 300 µg/mL in all cases investigated.
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