To our knowledge, a pathophysiological role of SMURF2 in pulmonary fibrosis remains unknown, except for the data that SMURF2 expression was induced in both normal and IPF lung fibroblasts to a similar degree53, and that miR-424 that was induced by TGF-β1 decreased SMURF2 levels and positively regulated myofibroblast differentiation54. Here, TGFB1 is linked to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.