BAX and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: In various pulmonary diseases, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) [39], idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) [40,41], extrapulmonary sarcoidosis [42], as well as asthma [43–46], aberrant release of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) through the BAK/BAX macropores was reported, which is a potent agonist of cGAS-STING pathway, potentiating inflammation in response to stress or injury [47–52].