Fig. 1

Gfi1 expression is upregulated in human MM cells. Gfi1 mRNA expression was measured by qPCR in CD138+ cells from multiple myeloma patients (MM) (n = 7) and normal bone marrow (NBM) donors (n = 3) (see patient/normal donor characteristics in Additional file 1: Table S1) (a). Gfi1 mRNA expression was measured by qPCR in CD138+ cells from relapsed MM patients (MMR) (n = 10), MGUS patients (n = 4), and MM newly diagnosed patients (MMD) (n = 11) (see characteristics of patients from Italy in Additional file 1: Table S2. Unpaired t test with Welch’s correction: MGUS vs MMR *p = 0.0281 and MMD vs MMR *p = 0.0438 (b). Gfi1 protein levels were analyzed by WB in cell lysates of primary CD138+ cells isolated from MM patients and normal bone marrow (NBM) donors (numbers represent Gfi1/β-actin ratio of densitometric measurements; p < 0.005 MM vs. NBM) (c). Gfi1 and Mcl-1 protein levels were analyzed by WB in cell lysates of primary CD138+ cells from MM patients (MM1-3) and MM cell lines using β-actin as loading control (d)