TGFB1 and renal fibrosis: Moreover, the importance of TGF-β1 in renal fibrosis is further supported by the findings that overexpression of active TGF-β1 in rodent liver is capable of inducing the fibrotic response in kidney; whereas blocking TGF-β with neutralizing antibody, antisense oligonucleotides, inhibitors, or genetic deletion of receptors can attenuate kidney fibrosis in vivo and in vitro (Sanderson et al., 1995; Kopp et al., 1996; Border and Noble, 1998; Moon et al., 2006; Petersen et al., 2008; Meng et al., 2012a).