SHH and pulmonary emphysema: By analyzing the transcriptome profiles of COPD/emphysema patients in the largest study to date that correlated gene expression within epithelial brushings with clinical disease severity, we found a significantly positive correlation between SHH expression in the epithelium, and the disease severity as measured by FEV1, suggesting that hyperactivation of Hh signaling could be one of the pathogenic mechanisms of COPD/emphysema.