Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC)-derived exosomes reconstitute tumor microenvironment

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is characterized by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and severe immune cell infiltration. Here, we explored the effect of tumor-derived exosomes on NPC microenvironment using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). We investigated the phenotypic and functional alterations in macrophages, as well as exosome-mediated cellular interactions. Human NPC biopsy samples were dissociated into single-cell suspension and stimuated with exosomes derived from an EBV positive cell line (HK1EBV) for 2 hours. A total of 14,446 qualified cells were subjected to analysis. Collectively, our findings revealed that NPC-derived exosomes facilitate immunosuppressive microenvironment and contribute to NPC progression. Single cell suspension freshly isolated from NPC tumors. For exosomal treatment experiments, processed cells were treated with 50μg exosomes derived from EBV+ HK1 cells for 2 hours under standard cell culture conditions (37°C and 5% CO2).