SMAD3 and Hepatic fibrosis: Thus, some factors or proteins that regulate the phosphorylation of SMAD2 and SMAD3 may influence the TGF-β signaling pathway, such as liver fibrosis-associated lncRNA1 (lnc-LFAR1) and lysyl oxidase-like 1 (LOXL1) [125, 126], both of which bind to SMAD2 and SMAD3 and promote their phosphorylation in the cytoplasm to activate the TGF-β signaling pathway, thereby stimulating the development of liver fibrosis.