We further demonstrated this in the Malat1-KO infected mice, showing that Malat1 knockout significantly upregulated miRNA-96 expression, leading to reduced Smad7 expression and elevated expression of profibrogenic genes α-SMA, Col1α1 and Col3α1, resulting in a more severe schistosomiasis HF. The gene discussed is ACTA1; the disease is schistosomiasis.