ZEB1 and pulmonary fibrosis: Besides, convincing evidence has recently been provided that ZEB1‐mediated EMT in human type II AECs contributes to the development of lung fibrosis by paracrine signalling to underlying fibroblasts, suggesting that the EMT process of epithelial cells may create a profibrogenic microenvironment to contribute fibrosis progression rather than convert into mesenchymal cells directly.36