SMAD7 and chronic kidney disease: Most importantly, the functional role of Smad7 is further defined by the findings that deletion of Smad7 accelerates renal fibrogenesis in obstructive nephropathy, diabetic nephropathy as well as hypertensive nephropathy (Chung et al., 2009; Chen et al., 2011; Liu et al., 2013), suggesting Smad7 as a therapeutic agent for treatment of CKD (Lan et al., 2003; Hou et al., 2005; Ka et al., 2007, 2012; Chen et al., 2011; Liu et al., 2014).