Finally, LAYN encoding for layilin is a transmembrane c-type lectin-homologous protein which has been associated in vitro with TNF-alpha induced epithelial to mesenchymal transformation of renal tubular epithelial cells from patients with IgA nephropathy, therefore potentially playing a role in renal disease progression and fibrosis61. This evidence concerns the gene TNF and IgA glomerulonephritis.