The same group further demonstrated that during the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), infiltrated neutrophil-derived neutrophil elastase translocated into the nuclear area, cleaved nuclear Notch1, and facilitated the EMT process by inducing notch-dependent activation of C-MYC, HES1, and HEY1. Here, HEY1 is linked to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.