CXCL12 and myocardial infarction: Whereas VEGF was unable to add to improved heart function after transplantation of fetal cardiomyocytes [22] in a rat model of MI, SDF-1α/ CXCL12 has been used widely in different experimental settings both in vivo and in vitro and found to amplify the effect of cell-transplantation [24, 41].