Autophagy-deficient HSCs showed a normal potential for long-term engraftment. Experimental scheme of transplantation assay (A). After P5 neonatal Atg7^fl/fl; Vav-Cre BM cells (1 × 10⁶ cells) were transplanted with competitor cells (1 × 10⁶ cells) into recipient mice, and the chimerism of PB (B) or HSCs within BM (C) were analyzed at indicated points or at 3 months after the transplantation, respectively. (D) In addition, the composition from each 3-differentiated lineage in PB was also examined at 3 months after the transplantation. CD4 and CD8: T-cell lineage; Gr1 and CD11b: myeloid lineage, B220: B-cell lineage. Graphs show the frequency of indicated cell populations. Data are presented as means ± SD (n = 7 in each condition, 2 independent experiments; *P < .05 by Student t test). To reduce the effect of normal hematopoiesis, P5 neonatal Atg7^fl/fl; Vav-Cre BM cells (1 × 10⁶ cells) were transplanted with decreased competitor cells (1 × 10⁵ cells) into recipient mice, and PB cells were analyzed at 4 and 12 weeks after the transplantation. Graphs show the frequency of indicated cell populations (n = 5 in each condition, 2 independent experiment; *P < .05 by Student t test).