It has been demonstrated that TGF-β induces in vitro EMT in AEC, and that epithelial and mesenchymal markers co-localize in hyperplastic alveolar type II cells in interstitial pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) tissue, indicating that AEC could show great plasticity and function as a source for new fibro- and myofibroblasts cells in lung fibrosis (Chapman, 2011; Tirino et al., 2013). Here, TGFB1 is linked to pulmonary fibrosis.