TGFB1 and pulmonary fibrosis: TGFβ has been shown to play a pivotal role in pulmonary fibrosis, not only through induction of EMT in alveolar epithelial cells and its ability to attract and stimulate proliferation of fibroblasts and myofibroblasts but also as potent inducers of ECM production, including collagen and other matrix proteins [28,29,52,53].