TGFB1 and cancer: Although many lncRNAs have been reported to modulate cancer (Yuan et al., 2014) cardiovascular diseases (Archer et al., 2015), neurological disorders (Briggs et al., 2015) and inflammation (Mathy & Chen, 2017; Zacharopoulou et al., 2017), the specific roles of lncRNAs in mediating the role of TGF-β1 and regulating EMT in bovine epithelial cells during mastitis-caused fibrosis process are not well studied.