Interesting that senescent alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) play a pivotal role in IPF progression, with miR-21 upregulation observed in both fibrotic lung tissues and experimental models Furthermore, EVs from IPF lung fibroblasts contain miR-23 b-3p and miR-494-3p, which inhibit SIRT3, a regulator of mitochondrial homeostasis, and their expression correlated with disease severity 820. This evidence concerns the gene SIRT3 and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.