Blimp-1 is prematurely expressed in B-cell populations in MM.

Semiquantitative gene-specific RT-PCRs were performed to determine relative levels of expression of Blimp-1. Shown is an example of one experiment. P indicates MM patient; H, healthy donor. All upper lanes show Blimp-1 expression; all lower lanes show β-actin expression. (Lane M) A 100 bp ladder (Boehringer Mannheim). (Lane 1) A no-template control. (Lanes 2-6) Blimp-1 products (upper lanes) and β-actin products (lower lanes) generated using mRNA templates extracted from B cells from P10, P6, and P3 and from H12 and H13, respectively. (Lanes 7-10) Blimp-1 products (upper lanes) and β-actin products (lower lanes) generated using mRNA templates extracted from plasma cells from P10 and P3 and from H12 and H13, respectively.