ACTA1 and Hepatic fibrosis: Furthermore, we linked p53 activation to the upregulation of fibrosis-related marker genes encoding TGF-β1, collagen I, CTGF, and α-SMA in alcohol-fed Akr1a1−/− mice, which was supported by a previous study showing that p53 activation upregulates hepatic CTGF expression, leading to liver fibrosis [45].