LAUSR

Selective inheritance of sub-cellular components has emerged as a mechanism guiding stem cell fate after asymmetric cell divisions. Peroxisomes play a crucial role in multiple metabolic processes such as fatty acid metabolism and reactive oxygen species detoxification, but the apportioning of peroxisomes during stem cell division remains understudied. Here, we develop a mouse model and labeling technique to follow the dynamics of distinct peroxisome age-classes, and find that old peroxisomes are inherited by the daughter cell retaining full stem cell potency in mammary and epidermal stem cell divisions. Old peroxisomes carry Glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase, whose specific location on the peroxisomal membrane promotes stem cell function by facilitating peroxisomal ether lipid synthesis. Our study demonstrates age-selective apportioning of peroxisomes in vivo, and unveils how functional heterogeneity of peroxisomes is utilized by asymmetrically dividing cells to metabolically divert the fate of the two daughter cells. Peroxisomes are essential but their role in cell fate regulation remains understudied. Here, the authors reveal that young and old peroxisomes are not equally distributed in asymmetrically dividing stem cells, and peroxisome inheritance influences daughter cell fate.