As for lineage abnormalities, ALI cultures from COPD patients spontaneously reproduce mesenchymal features (Carlier et al., 2021; Milara et al., 2013), while CS may induce EMT in control HBEC, possibly as a result of TGF-β signaling (Gohy et al., 2015). Here, TGFB1 is linked to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.