ZEB1 and myocardial infarction: ZEB1, a hallmark downstream target protein of the TGF-β1 signaling pathway, was also upregulated at both the protein (Fig. 6E) and mRNA (Fig. 6F) levels in the MI-LncRNA-IH group, confirming that LncRNA-IH overexpression activates the TGF-β1 signaling pathway in the heart after MI.