KIT and ischemic cardiomyopathy: Numerous studies have demonstrated that c-kit+/Lin- CSCs isolated and expanded in culture exhibit all the properties of bona fide stem cells, and when injected into the injured myocardium, they are capable of restoring (to a variable extent) the cardiac structure and function in various animal models, as well as in patients suffering from ischemic cardiomyopathy [3, 13–15, 40••, 41•, 42].