Mice with autophagic defects develop an atypical myeloproliferation resembling MDS progressing to AML (Mortensen et al., 2011); while in our in vitro experiments, increased expression of proteins involved in the autophagy pathway (ATG5, Beclin and LC3B) was connected to long-term exposure to 5-AZA. This evidence concerns the gene MAP1LC3B and myelodysplastic syndrome.