Fig. 1

Exosomes derived from patients’ adipocytes protect MM cells against chemotherapeutic treatment. a-c. Characterization of adipocyte-derived exosomes. a. Representative images of exosomes derived from normal adipocytes (nADs) and MM patients’ adipocytes (PtADs) under a transmission electron microscope. Scale bar, 50 nm. b. Representative western blots show the levels of exosome markers HSP90, CD9, CD63, and CD81 in exosomes from nADs and PtADs. Levels of cytochrome c (Cyt c) served as negative control. c. Confocal microscopy shows the representative images of ARP-1 cells that were exposed to Dil pre-stained adipocyte-derived exosomes. ARP-1 cells were then stained with Alexa Fluor 488 Phalloidin for F-actin and DAPI for nucleus staining. Scale bar, 10 μm. d. Annexin V-binding assay shows the percentages of apoptotic MM cells treated with 5 nM bortezomib (BTZ) and without or with nAD and PtAD exosomes after 24 h. Data shown as mean ± SD. ns, non-significant; *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; ****P < 0.0001. P values were determined by one-way ANOVA