Garcia-Alvarez et al. also detected TIMP-3 in fibrotic regions (including fibroblasts) of IPF lung tissue in situ, and showed that IPF-derived pulmonary fibroblasts expressed higher levels of TIMP-1, -2, and -3 in vitro characterized by compared to fibroblasts characterized by from control donors (Garcia-Alvarez et al., 2006). Here, TIMP1 is linked to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.