ACTA1 and renal fibrosis: Among the various mediators of renal fibrosis, transforming growth factor-β1 (TGFβ1) is a representative molecule that plays a central role in this process [23,24], particularly by activating the promoter region of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in renal fibrosis [25], resulting in increased α-SMA expression [25,26].