CCN2 and Hypertension: TGFB1 plays a central role in hypertension-induced cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis (22, 23), and consistent with that fact, genes involved in fibrosis/extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation (TGFB1, POSTN, CTGF, TIMP1) (24) and hypertension-related pathological hypertrophy (NPPA and MYH7) (25–28) are upregulated with hypertension.