In a recent study, PlGF and VEGFB, selective ligands of VEGFR1, exerted powerful antiapoptotic effect in both cultured cardiomyocytes and after myocardial infarction in vivo.[28] The prolonged intramyocardial expression of VEGFB on adeno-associated virus-mediated gene significantly improved cardiac function after myocardial infarction and prevented loss of cardiac mass in the absence of angiogenesis. This evidence concerns the gene FLT1 and myocardial infarction.