MSCs have been reported to enhance angiogenesis, alleviate myocardial infarction and improve cardiac function in the I/R heart through paracrine effect of VEGF, stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and extracellular matrix protein into the surrounding infarct area [23, 24]. The gene discussed is CXCL12; the disease is myocardial infarction.