CCN2 and Hepatic fibrosis: As shown in Figure 7, compared to normal control rats, CCl4-induced liver fibrosis was associated with a marked upregulation of TGF-beta1 and CTGF mRNA (Fig. 7A), which was associated with a marked activation of Smad2/3 as identified by higher levels of phospho-Smad2/3 and its nuclear translocation (Fig.7B,C), and a fall of hepatic Smad7 (Fig. 7A and B).