• Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Transcriptomic analyses are increasingly being used to define the molecular phenotype of complex diseases and may yet allow the identification of novel diagnostic and prognostic markers. Yang et al1 are to be congratulated for their meticulous application of this technology to the systematic study of gene signatures from patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). This study, which appears to be the largest data set yet published, identifies two distinct gene signatures with high expression of ‘cilium-associated genes’ being shown to be associated with cases that exhibit microscopic honeycombing, which is commonly observed in, but not specific to, ‘Usual Interstitial Pneumonia’ (UIP), the pathological pattern of remodelling seen in IPF. This metaplastic bronchial type epithelium within the honeycomb spaces has recently been the …