TGFB1 and renal fibrosis: Renal fibrosis is a multifaceted pathological process driven by interactions between various renal cell types and multiple molecular pathways, such as the TGF-β/Smads, Wnt/β-catenin, and NF-κB pathways (Gu et al., 2024; Tan et al., 2014; Niu et al., 2025).