Li et al. (2023) utilized artificial Mtln downregulation to investigate whether Mtln contributes to kidney fibrosis. The grade of kidney fibrosis induced by both folic acid nephropathy and unilateral ureteral obstruction was assessed by α-smooth muscle actin staining. The severity of kidney fibrosis was found to be attenuated in Mtln-KO mice and mice treated with locked nucleic acid antisense oligonucleotides that target Mtln-encoding mRNA (Li et al., 2023). Here, MTLN is linked to Ureteral obstruction.