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Referee Comments: Referee 2

Posted by PLOS_ONE_Group on 22 Aug 2007 at 01:36 GMT

Reviewer 2's Review

“The study by Fievez et al. details the regulation of neutrophil homeostasis in STAT5ko mice. These mice have been shown to have severe hematopoietic defects resulting in lymphocyte deficiency. However, it has been unexplained why they have increased neutrophil counts in the peripheral blood. The authors have now performed studies identifying G-CSF production by hepatocytes as the principle cause of increase neutrophil accumulation in these mice. Additional transplant experiments demonstrate that it is loss of STAT5 in the stroma that is primarily responsible for the neutrophilia. Overall, this is an interesting set of experiments. The study would benefit from a few additional analyses to clarify the effects of high dose G-CSF on survival and mechanisms for the decreased STAT5 expression.”

N.B. These are the general comments made by the reviewer when reviewing this paper in light of which the manuscript was revised. Specific points addressed during revision of the paper are not shown.