Research Progress of Epithelial-mesenchymal Transition in Pulmonary Fibrosis

Pulmonary fibrosis is the final manifestation of many lung diseases. The formation of lung fibrosis is complex and the mechanism of its occurrence has not been clearly elucidated yet. Recent research showed that epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT) is a key step of pulmonary fibrosis. Major signaling pathways involve in EMT include transforming growth factor-β, Notch and Wingless-type signaling pathways. MicroRNAs and endoplasmic reticulum stress play critical roles in the process of EMT. Fully understanding the role of EMT in the development of pulmonary fibrosis will be conducive in search of new methods and new drugs for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis. In this paper, the latest impacts of EMT on pulmonary fibrosis were systematically reviewed.