ATF4 and renal fibrosis: Liang et al. (2021) demonstrated that ATF4 knockout resulted in improved urinary albumin levels, renal function, and renal fibrosis in DN mice. Mechanistically, the silencing of the ATF4 gene curtailed p62 and Col-IV protein expression, elevated LC3-II protein expression, and reinstated autophagosomes and autophagic lysosomes in NRK-52E cells cultured under high glucose conditions. In contrast to (Liang et al.)'s findings, Yuan et al. (2021) reported that ATF4 silencing diminished podocyte autophagy triggered by DN mouse serum and heightened podocyte apoptosis.