KIT and teratoma: Furthermore, the increased expression of CD117 (related to apoptosis regulation, cell differentiation, proliferation, chemotaxis, cell adhesion and stemness) indicated that encapsulated CDCs could differentiate into more mature cardiac progenitor cells, acquiring the phenotype of cardiac progenitor mast cells, while the decreased expression of Nanog in encapsulated CDCs indicated a lower risk of teratoma formation after transplantation.