Metalloproteinase inhibitor TIMP1 was found to be involved in the maintenance of a balance between proteases and anti-proteases in lungs, the impairment of which leads to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis development [94], and regulates the proliferation of fibroblasts by direct interaction with CD63 and integrin β1 exposed on their surface [95]. Here, TIMP1 is linked to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.