We showed that short-term Trf1 deletion in fibroblasts per se does not cause renal fibrosis but rather induces fibrogenesis and inflammation and triggers a cascade of events that result in the transition of fibroblasts to myofibroblasts via the macrophage-to-myofibroblast transition (MMT), partial epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT). Here, TERF1 is linked to renal fibrosis.