Preconditioning with other factors, such as protein kinase C epsilon (εPKC), CTRP9, dimethyloxalylglycine and connexin-43 improves the retention and survival of transplanted MSCs in rat MI through the SDF-1/CXC and PI3K/AKT pathways (66, 70–72). The gene discussed is AKT1; the disease is myocardial infarction.