ACTA1 and renal cell carcinoma: Consistent with its phenotypic induction of EMT, SMOC2 treatment of both RCC cell lines initiated with a loss in the epithelial cell marker E-cadherin, followed by an intense increase in mesenchymal markers fibronectin, alpha-smooth muscle actin (αSMA) and vimentin when compared to their respective controls (Fig. 3a, b).