Autophagy maintains metabolism and functional activity of a subset of aged hematopoietic stem cells [ERRBS]

Autophagy is critical for protecting HSCs from metabolic stress. Here, we used a genetic approach to inactivate autophagy in adult HSCs by deleting the Atg12 gene. We show that loss of autophagy causes accumulation of mitochondria and an oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS)-activated metabolic state, which drives accelerated myeloid differentiation likely through epigenetic deregulations rather than transcriptional changes, and impairs HSC self-renewal activity and regenerative potential.