For confirming the in vivo results, culture‐activated HSCs were transducted with AdSREBP1c or the Adcontrol at multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 1004 for 48 hours and the protein levels of α1(I)collagen (the main component of ECM), α‐SMA (the marker for HSC activation), MMP1 and TIMP1 were detected by Western blot analyses. This evidence concerns the gene TIMP1 and infection.