MTA1 and cancer: It has been suggested that the MTA1 gene is a potential candidate oncogene in several types of human malignancies.18 MTA1 protein interacts with histone deacetylase to form a nucleosome remodelling histone deacetylase complex, which could regulate oncogenesis and angiogenesis in a variety of cancers.19, 20, 21 MTA1 promotes the progression of cancer by inducing EMT, which functions as a central mediating process that contributes to IPF.22, 23 Up to now, however, the expression changes of MTA1 and its biological functions and mechanisms in the pathogenic process of IPF are unknown.