As overexpression of Smad7 inhibits renal fibrosis and inflammation but also induces apoptosis in podocytes (Schiffer et al., 2001; Ka et al., 2012), thus, overexpression of PRINS upregulates Smad7 expression and promotes apoptosis in mouse podocytes (Jiao et al., 2019). This evidence concerns the gene SMAD7 and renal fibrosis.