NFATC1 and acute kidney injury: However, one recent study indicated that NFAT2 played a renoprotective role by promoting epithelial regeneration after AKI induced by mercuric chloride, and NFAT2-knockout mice exhibited increased apoptosis, sustained injury, and delayed regeneration [13], which contradicted the proapoptotic role of NFAT2 in renal fibrosis in our study.