SMAD7 and Hepatic fibrosis: He et al. (2018a) demonstrated that miR-351 promotes schistosomiasis-related liver fibrosis by targeting the vitamin D receptor (VDR) and then they also identified a mechanism by which IFN-γ can simultaneously induce the expression of SMAD7 and VDR, which synergistically block SMAD signaling. The regulatory roles of various miRNAs associated with the TGF-β/SMAD signaling pathway in schistosome-associated liver fibrosis are summarized in Figure 2.