Xiao et al. (2014) also found that the administration of the Notch inhibitor dibenzazepine (DBZ) inhibited the activation of the Notch pathway, as well as the expression of TGF-β and the phosphorylation of Smad2 and Smad3, which markedly ameliorated the severity of renal fibrosis. It was also observed that the inhibitory effect of sh-Notch1 or GSI on the Notch pathway increased the expression and activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9, reduced the level of TGF-β1, and inhibited the expression of type IV collagen and laminin in mouse podocytes (Yao et al., 2015). This evidence concerns the gene SMAD3 and renal fibrosis.