The results of RT-qPCR (Fig. 5E) showed that SMAD3 expression was upregulated in NSCLC cells with oe-SMAD3 transfection and CAFs-CM treatment, while downregulated with sh-SMAD3 (subsequently using sh-SMAD3-1 for experiments). Here, SMAD3 is linked to non-small cell lung carcinoma.