Primary AML samples have increased mitochondrial mass and mRNA level of mitochondrial biogenesis regulators. (A) Citrate synthase activity as a marker of mitochondrial mass was determined in primary normal hematopoietic cells (G-CSF mobilized peripheral blood mononuclear cells) and AML samples. (B) Mitochondrial DNA copy number was determined in primary normal hematopoietic and AML samples. DNA was extracted from cells and mRNA levels of the mitochondrial ND1 gene (mtND1) relative to human globulin (HGB) were measured by qRT-PCR. (C-F) Expression of NRF1, TFAM, EF-Tu, and c-Myc mRNA was measured in primary normal hematopoietic and AML samples. Expression was determined by qRT-PCR using 18s RNA as an internal standard. (G) Expression of NRF1, TFAM, EF-Tu, and c-Myc mRNA in functionally defined AML stem cells (LSC) vs normal hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) (G-CSF mobilized peripheral blood mononuclear cells). Data were derived from the publically accessible data set GSE 30377, achieved on the Gene Expression Omnibus. In all panels, *P < .05; **P < .01; ***P < .001 as determined by the unpaired Student t test.