SMAD3 and chronic kidney disease: Pro-fibrotic genes (TGFα1, PAI-1, TGIF1, IL-1α, IL-1β, Agt, CTGF, Akt1, Smad3 and Timp3) were upregulated while anti-fibrotic genes (BMP7 and IL13Rα2) were downregulated in CKD versus sham mice (Table 2).