* Increased expression results in upregulation of fibronectin, COL1A1, CTGF, Versican and DPT. * Knockdown results in increased expression of apoptotic markers PDCD-4 and Caspase-3. * Knockdown results in increased expression of EEF2, a marker of cell proliferation * Induction through lentiviral infection induced expression of TGF-β and MMP-2/11. Here, PDCD4 is linked to infection.