TGFB1 and glomerulosclerosis: Wahab et al. [41] reported that the glomerular podocyte expression of TGF-β1 increased with DN stage; i.e., TGF-β1 expression was lower at an early stage of DN and more pronounced in overt nephropathy, suggesting that TGF-β1 induces pro-fibrotic responses and leads to glomerulosclerosis in the long term.