The respiratory system is a well-organized multicellular organ, and disruption of cellular homeostasis or abnormal tissue repair caused by genetic deficiency and exposure to risk factors lead to life-threatening pulmonary disease including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Although there is no clear etiology as the name reflected, its pathological progress is closely related to uncoordinated cellular and molecular signals. Here, we review the advances in our understanding of the role of lung tissue cells in IPF pathology including epithelial cells, mesenchymal stem cells, fibroblasts, immune cells, and endothelial cells. These advances summarize the role of various cell components and signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which is helpful to further study the pathological mechanism of the disease, provide new opportunities for disease prevention and treatment, and is expected to improve the survival rate and quality of life of patients.
Keywords: alveolar epithelial cells; cellular mechanisms; idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; molecular mechanism; niche cells.