PONE-D-19-35930

Application of co-culture technology of epithelial type cells and mesenchymal type cells using nanopatterned structures

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr Moon,

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Xuefeng Liu

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

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Reviewer #1: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

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Reviewer #1: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: This study firstly used the nanopattern technology to co-culture mesenchymal cells and epithelial cells. They found that the nanopattern substrates could inhibit the proliferative rate of fibroblasts, but do not influence the growth of keratocytes. Importantly, the application of this technology did not affect the metabolism ability of fibroblasts. They also performed molecule mechanisms underlying these observations. They found that more fibroblasts were arrested in G1 phase and the gene expression of CDKNB1 was upregulated in nanopatterned dishes, comparing to the flat dishes.

Overall, the article is completed and justified. If the authors can carefully revise the English writing throughout the paper and submit high-quality pictures, this manuscript can be considered to be accepted.

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Reviewer #1: No

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Application of co-culture technology of epithelial type cells and mesenchymal type cells using nanopatterned structures

PONE-D-19-35930R1

Dear Dr. Moon,

We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it complies with all outstanding technical requirements.

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With kind regards,

Xuefeng Liu

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments: