Abstract
Our work focused on alveolar epithelial cells (AECs)-derived type-2 cytokine (interleukin [IL]-25) in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). We showed that IL-25 and IL-17BR (IL-25's receptor) is upregulated in lung tissues (especially in AECs and lung fibroblasts) of IPF patients and contributes to lung fibrosis by directly activating lung fibroblasts and modulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of AECs. We suggest that IL-25 may be one of the master switches hidden in the milieu of abnormal epithelial-mesenchymal crosstalk. Treatment targeting IL-25 may be the potential and novel method for IPF patients.