TGF-β1 is significantly lower (0.10±0.01 pg/mL) in the plasma of mice receiving LSKL compared with that in plasma of mice receiving SLLK control peptide at day 42 (0.20±0.02 pg/mL; P=0.0001). mRNA expression is assessed in the suprarenal aortic lysates obtained from mice receiving SLLK and LSKL peptides. Akita mice treated with 30 mg/kg LSKL have significantly increased nephrin expression, greater than twofold, compared with renal lysates from either saline controls or SLLK-treated mice.