TGFB1 and diabetic kidney disease: Upregulation and increased deposition of TSP1 into the ECM as well as its role in TGFβ1 activation has been reported in HG in MC as well as in vivo in DKD mouse models and in human DKD (Poczatek et al., 2000; Wahab et al., 2005; Hohenstein et al., 2008; Lu et al., 2011).