As discussed more extensively later, liver fibrosis is a process that depends strongly on Smad3 activity; interestingly, liver fibrosis can be modulated by signalling activities taking place in endothelial cells of the liver vasculature, whereby, the ETS-related gene (ERG) transcription factor suppresses Smad3 function and protects from the onset of liver fibrosis [52]. Here, SMAD3 is linked to Hepatic fibrosis.