However, results from clinical trials of targeting TGF-β1 therapy are far from anticipated, and none of those TGF-β1 blockade treatments has been successfully translated into human therapy4, which results in the urgent need to identify the other key factors in regulating renal fibrosis progression other than TGF-β1 for its close involvement in other processes10–12. The gene discussed is TGFB1; the disease is renal fibrosis.