Relevantly, transplantation of estrogen-stimulated EPCs preserved cardiac function after MI, but this effect disappeared in EPCs pre-conditioned with the ERα antagonist methyl-piperidino-pyrazole (MMP) [71] or derived from ERα-KO mice and, to a lower extent, from ERβ-KO mice [72]. Here, ESR2 is linked to myocardial infarction.