Similarly, in a bleomycin-induced experimental ALI in mice, CCN1 expression was found to be elevated in the alveolar mesenchymal cells, which in turn, activated the TGF-b1/SMAD3 pathway-dependent profibrotic signaling that contributed to ALI-mediated pulmonary fibrosis [81]. This evidence concerns the gene TGFB1 and pulmonary fibrosis.