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. Overall design: 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).