Contemporary perspective on endogenous myocardial regeneration

Figure 1 Transplantation of stem cells vs initiation of endogenous myocardial regeneration without cell transplantation. Depicted are two basic approaches to myocardial regeneration: (1) via transplantation of different types of stem cells into the damaged myocardium (on the left, in blue); and (2) by activation of endogenous pathways of cardiac repair, without cell transplantation (on the right, in red). Both sets of techniques are thought to ultimately exert their effects on the paracrine route and by replenishing lost cardiomyocytes. SCs: Stem cells; BMSCs: Bone marrow-derived stem cells; CPCs: Cardiac progenitor cells; VEGF: Vascular endothelial growth factor; FGF: Fibroblast growth factor; G-CSF: Granulocyte colony stimulating factor; EPO: Erythropoietin; GMT: Gata4, Mef2c, Tbx5; miRNAs: microRNAs; PICSO: Pressure-controlled intermittent coronary sinus occlusion.