Although these observations indicate TGF-β1 could be directly targeted therapeutically for renal fibrosis, TGF-β1 regulates multiple biological responses in addition to fibrosis including cell proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, autophagy, and the immune response (Bottinger and Bitzer 2002; Meng et al. 2013). Here, TGFB1 is linked to renal fibrosis.