KIT and myocardial infarction: In the past decade, studies have demonstrated that human and rodent c-kit+ CSCs promote cardiac regeneration and attenuate heart dysfunction and remodeling after MI in various animal models (Angert et al., 2011; Bearzi et al., 2007; Bolli et al., 2013; Fischer et al., 2009; Linke et al., 2005; Taghavi et al., 2015; Tang et al., 2016; Tang et al., 2010) A recent study showed that the benefits of c-kit+ CSCs on ventricular remodeling and dysfunction lasted for more than one year in rats (Tang et al., 2016).