CXCR7-EPC transplantation effectively accelerated reendothelialization on day 7 (control group vs CXCR7 group, 66.41 ± 7.38% vs 94.66 ± 9.6%, p = 0.0298) but not on day 14 (control group vs CXCR7 group, 86.46 ± 10.35% vs 98.56 ± 10.67%, p = 0.398) after vascular injury in the DM model (Fig. 3a–c). Here, ACKR3 is linked to diabetes mellitus.