VEGFA and diabetic retinopathy: The targeted interaction of miR-195 to Smurf2 was found to upregulate YY1 and other proteins, such as vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) and Snail1, which increased the cell and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) permeability (both of which are characteristics of diabetic retinopathy) [41].