Cipriani and colleagues showed that when MSC from SSc patients are seeded on Matrigel, they have a reduced ability to form capillary-like structures and give rise to incomplete endothelial networks, even after vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and stromal-derived factor (SDF-1) stimulation [23, 32]. The gene discussed is CXCL12; the disease is systemic sclerosis.