Effect of MNK inhibition in primary MM cells. A) Primary MM cells obtained from bone marrow biopsies of 4 patients and treated with or without rapamycin (100 nM) for 1,3 or 6 hrs followed by immunoblot assay for phospho-MNK and total MNK. B) Primary MM cells pre-treated with CGP at 0, 25 or 50 uM for 30 mins followed by addition of rapamycin (100 nM) for 6 hrs and then immunoblot assay performed for phospho-eIF-4E, total eIF-4E, c-myc and actin expression. C) Primary MM cells exposed to CGP (50 uM), rapamycin (100 nM) or the combination of the two drugs for 72 hrs followed by assessment of viable recovery by trypan blue assay. Data are means+/−SD of 4 wells/group. Control (C) cells not treated represent 100%.