| abstract |
Products and methods for treating fibrosis, liver cirrhosis and cancer, and for altering or modulating the expression of genes regulated by transforming growth factor—beta (TGF-β) are provided. Nucleic acid molecules comprising TGF-response elements have a high affinity for transcription factors modulated by TGF-β. In one embodiment, nucleic acid molecules comprising TGF-β response elements can be used as decoys to alter the expression of genes regulated by TGF-β (e.g., proα1(I) collagen) and treat a variety of conditions related to aberrant expression of TGF-β regulated genes (e.g., fibrosis, liver cirrhosis, tumors, cancers). |