SMG1 and acute kidney injury: For further confirmation of the role of SMG1 in the signalling pathway, we explored the apoptosis phenotype in the LPS‐induced HK‐2 cell model of sepsis‐associated AKI and found down‐regulation of SMG1 while overexpression of circVMA21 reversed the alleviated apoptosis and inflammation by circVMA21 (Figure 6F‐I).