Figure 1. Lineage-specific cardiac progenitor cells. Overall, our results suggest that the aging and pathological damage of Bmi1+ cardiac progenitors could play an important role in heart aging, exacerbating certain pathological responses. Stimulation of endogenous Bmi1+ cardiac progenitor cells in the infarcted myocardium would help counteract the pathological remodeling by sustaining injury-induced neovascularization.