FGF2 and ischemia: Exogenous administration of recombinant FGF2 in an ex vivo model of cardiac ischemia‐reperfusion injury has also been shown to improve functional recovery and reduce apoptosis and was found to increase phosphorylation of AKT and p70 S6 kinase as well as translocation of PKC isoforms (Jiang et al. 2009).