In vitro experiments using alveolar epithelial cell lines showed that purified NETs increased the expression of fibronectin-1, vascular endothelial growth factor, and alpha-smooth muscle actin, while reducing E-cadherin expression, indicating that NETs drive epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and subsequent extracellular matrix deposition, which are established processes in pulmonary fibrosis (206). The gene discussed is CDH1; the disease is pulmonary fibrosis.