Table 1.

Description of the Experimental Groups

	1	2	3	4	5	6
Group	BMP-2, SDF-1α, CXCR4(+) MSCs	BMP-2, CXCR4(+) MSCs	SDF-1α, CXCR4(+) MSCs	SDF-1α, CXCR4(−) MSCs	Control fat tissue, CXCR4(−) MSCs	No fat tissue, no MSCs
SDF-1α expressing fat tissue graft	X		X	X
BMP-2 expressing fat tissue graft	X	X
Control (only RFP expressing fat tissue graft)					X
No fat tissue graft						X
Intracardiac injection of CXCR4(+) MSCs	X	X	X
Intracardiac injection of CXCR4(−) MSCs (control)				X	X
No MSC injection						X
Number of animals available for complete evaluation (original number of animals in the group)	10 (12)	8 (12)	11 (12)	8 (12)	10 (12)	11 (12)

For the treatment groups (groups 1–5), adenovirally activated fat tissue grafts expressing human stromal cell-derived factor 1 alpha (SDF-1α), human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2), or only red fluorescence protein (RFP) were inserted at the defect site. Mice received lentivirally transduced mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) expressing the marker genes for enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) and firefly luciferace through intracardiac injection. These MSCs were group-related overexpressing human CXCR4 receptor [CXCR4(+)] or were negative for human CXCR4 receptor [CXCR4(−)]. The negative control group (group 6) received no fat tissue graft as well as no intracardiac MSC injection. One to four animals per group were lost during the observation period due to tumor growth, pulmonary embolism, or bleeding after intracardiac injection.