Mounting evidence suggests that immunotherapies are a promising new class of anticancer therapies. However, the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME), poor immunogenicity, and off-target toxicity hinder the broader implementation of immunotherapies. Here, we describe a novel strategy combining chemotherapy and immunotherapy to modulate the TME by systemically and concurrently delivering the chemotherapeutic agent SN38 (7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin) and the STING agonist DMXAA (5,6-dimethylxanthenone-4-acetic acid) into tumors using triblock copolymer nanoparticles, named PS3D1@DMXAA, which enhances antigen cross-presentation and induces the conversion of the immunosuppressive TME to immunogenic TME through the newly found synergistic function between SN38 and STING activation. PS3D1@DMXAA thus shows potent therapeutic efficacy in three mice tumor models and elicits remarkable therapeutic benefit when combined with anti–PD-1 therapy. Our engineered nanosystem offers a rational design of an effective immunotherapy combination regimen to convert uninflamed “cold” tumors into “hot” tumors, addressing the major challenges immunotherapies faced.

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In the fragrance and perfume industry, the encapsulation and controlled release of fragrance is important to appeal to consumers and promote the quality of products. Here, we demonstrate that porous metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) can effectively encapsulate and release fragrant molecules in a controlled manner. The incorporation of functional groups into MOFs can improve the adsorption and release behavior of fragrant molecules. We find that polar ester‐type fragrances exhibit higher adsorption on polar hydroxyl‐functionalized MOF [UiO‐66‐(OH)2] than on nonpolar MOF (UiO‐66), while nonpolar terpenoid‐type fragrances show no adsorption difference between these two MOFs. The release profiles show that UiO‐66‐(OH)2 can prolong the release of polar fragrances compared with nonpolar fragrances. Both the experimental results and computer molecular modeling demonstrate that the hydroxyl groups in UiO‐66‐(OH)2 can form strong hydrogen binding with different ester fragrances. The releasing kinetics indicates that pore diffusion is the rate‐limiting step of fragrance release from MOFs. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 65: 491–499, 2019

The encapsulation of volatile fragrances within porous materials is capable of increasing their stability for long-term controlled release; however, the introduction of low biocompatible carrier materials also increases safety concerns, thus limiting their applications. Here, we demonstrate the usage of a nontoxic biocompatible porous material, γcyclodextrin-based metal−organic framework (γ-CD-MOF), for the effective encapsulation and sustained release of fragrances. Two ester-and two terpene-type fragrances were used as model fragrances for encapsulation. Compared with γ-CD, the γ-CD-MOF nanocrystals showed higher encapsulation capability for the two ester-type fragrances and superior sustained release for all of the tested fragrances. The host−guest hydrophobic and hydrogen-bonding interactions between the fragrant molecules and the γ-CD units/γ-CD-MOFs were studied by Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy and molecular docking. We find that the release profiles of the two ester-type fragrances are linear and can be fitted well by the zero order model, whereas those for terpene-type fragrances show an initial burst release with better fitting using the Weibull model.