ESR1 and pulmonary fibrosis: Because transcription factor ESR-1 (alpha subunit of ESR) was identified as binding to the STAT3 gene in CD4+ T cells, we investigated the role of the ERα subunit in profibrotic cytokine expression using a murine model of bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in WT and ESR-1 knockout (ESR-1-/-) mice.