NOS2 and myocardial infarction: In experimental acute myocardial infarction, TCs were demonstrated to be in close spatial relationships with endothelial tubes through direct physical interaction or indirectly by paracrine secretion including VEGF and NOS2 within the ‘angiogenic zones’, which suggests the participation of TCs in neo-angiogenesis during the late stage of myocardial infarction [19].