As for the role of the immunity pathway in IPF, further evidence was obtained from the transcriptomic profiling of cultured lung fibroblasts in IPF patients, showing that 115 downregulated transcripts were enriched in the inflammation and immunity pathways such as defense response to virus, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) mediated signaling pathway, interferon-inducible absent in melanoma2 (AIM2) inflammasome as well as apoptosis45. Here, TNF is linked to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.