Various exemplary embodiments provide protocell nanostructures and methods for constructing and using the protocell nanostructures. In one embodiment, the protocell nanostructures can include a core-shell structure including a porous particle core surrounded by a shell of lipid bilayer(s). The protocell can be internalized in a bioactive cell. Various cargo components, for example, drugs, can be loaded in and released from the porous particle core of the protocell(s) and then delivered within the bioactive cell.