Genetic Murine Models for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

C57BL/6J, CD45.1, Rosa^mT/mG and Atg7^f/f;Vav‐iCre mice were used in this study. Rosa^mT/mG mice were generated by the laboratory of Dr. Liqun Luo (Muzumdar et al., 2007 (link)). Mice with Atg7 gene deficiency in hematopoiesis were obtained by crossing Atg7^f/f mice kindly from Dr. Komatsu, Japan (Komatsu et al., 2005 (link)) with Vav‐iCre mice (Jackson Laboratory). For genotypic analysis, DNA was extracted by a Genomic DNA Mini Preparation Kit with a Spin Column. For transplantation assays, 2000 HSCs with 200,000 bone marrow cells were transplanted into each recipient with irradiation (9 or 5 Gy). The recipients were killed 16 weeks after transplantation, and multilineage reconstitution was monitored in the bone marrow. The mice were bred and housed in the specific‐pathogen‐free animal facilities of Soochow University. All experiments with animals were in compliance with the institutional protocols for animal welfare and approved by the Ethics Committee of Soochow University.