The role of aquaporin-4 in optic nerve head astrocytes in experimental glaucoma

Elizabeth Kimball; Julie Schaub; Sarah Quillen; Casey Keuthan; Mary Ellen Pease; Arina Korneva; Harry Quigley

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0244123

Peer Review History

Original SubmissionDecember 1, 2020
29 Dec 2020 Decision Letter - Sanjoy Bhattacharya, Editor PONE-D-20-37793 The Role of Aquaporin-4 in Optic Nerve Head Astrocytes in Experimental Glaucoma PLOS ONE Dear Dr. Kimball, Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process. The reviewers have recommended minor revision and have offered constructive recommendations. Please submit your revised manuscript by Feb 12 2021 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file. 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Please see our Supporting Information guidelines for more information: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/supporting-information. [Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.] 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 Reviewer #2: Yes ******** 2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: Yes ****** 3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available? 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Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here. Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: No ****** 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: The manuscript demonstrates that aquaporin does not have beneficial nor detrimental effects in a mouse model of glaucoma. This information provides insight into the distribution of aquaporin in the retina, optic nerve disk and optic nerve. The authors use an animal mouse model of glaucoma by inducing elevated intraocular pressure via bead occlusion. This glaucoma model was implemented in C57BL6 controls and AQP4 null mice. The authors used fluorescent immunohistochemistry to analyze the distribution of aquaporins in the eye and optic nerve and quantitative real-time PCR for measuring mRNA expression of aquaporins. Axonal transport was assessed through the movement of amyloid precursor protein. Consider revising this sentence in introduction. Three AQP types have been described in astrocytes; AQP1, AQP4 and AQP9, aquaglyceroporin. Include a brief overview of how the bead injections were carried out including vehicle used and where the microbeads were procured from (company). Specify what type of knock-out was used (constitutive, conditional)? Reviewer #2: Although this paper contains some important information on aquaporin channel expression in a mouse model of glaucoma, it requires minor revision. The manuscript should be revised with proper English grammar. ****** 6. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). 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Revision 1
6 Jan 2021 Author Response Manuscript meets PLOS ONE's style requirements. Reviewer #1: The manuscript demonstrates that aquaporin does not have beneficial nor detrimental effects in a mouse model of glaucoma. This information provides insight into the distribution of aquaporin in the retina, optic nerve disk and optic nerve. The authors use an animal mouse model of glaucoma by inducing elevated intraocular pressure via bead occlusion. This glaucoma model was implemented in C57BL6 controls and AQP4 null mice. The authors used fluorescent immunohistochemistry to analyze the distribution of aquaporins in the eye and optic nerve and quantitative real-time PCR for measuring mRNA expression of aquaporins. Axonal transport was assessed through the movement of amyloid precursor protein. Consider revising this sentence in introduction. Three AQP types have been described in astrocytes; AQP1, AQP4 and AQP9, aquaglyceroporin. - This sentences has been corrected and now reads: “Three AQP types are known to express in astrocytes ; AQP1, AQP4, and AQP9 (also referred to as, aquaglyceroporin which is permeable to glycerol and other small uncharged solutes). Include a brief overview of how the bead injections were carried out including vehicle used and where the microbeads were procured from (company). - The paragraph now reads: “One anterior chamber was injected with Polybead Microspheres (Polysciences, Inc., Warrington, PA, USA), suspended in sterile PBS (phosphate buffer saline solution), consisting of 2 µL of 6 µm diameter beads, then 2 µL of 1 µm diameter beads, followed by 1 µL of viscoelastic compound (10 mg/ml sodium hyaluronate, Healon; Advanced Medical Optics Inc., Santa Ana, CA). Injections were made with a 50 µm tip diameter glass cannula, connected to a Hamilton syringe (Hamilton, Inc., Reno, NV). The glass cannula was kept in place for 2 minutes to prevent the egress of beads after withdrawal. The contralateral eye was used as control. No animal was excluded from our study once the bead injection was completed.” Specify what type of knock-out was used (constitutive, conditional)? - The AQP4 null animals studied here are now referred to as “Aquaporin 4 constitutive knockout (AQP4 null)”. Animal numbers have been corrected for the gene expression portion of this manuscript (previously it stated 6 animals were studied, however, the correct total is 10). Both the total animal count, and Table 1 (Mouse Groups) have been amended. Reviewer #2: Although this paper contains some important information on aquaporin channel expression in a mouse model of glaucoma, it requires minor revision. The manuscript should be revised with proper English grammar. - The manuscript has been revised for grammatical errors. Thank you, Elizabeth Kimball Attachments Attachment Submitted filename: AQP4 Response to Reviewers_1.6.2021.docx https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244123.r002
12 Jan 2021 Decision Letter - Sanjoy Bhattacharya, Editor The Role of Aquaporin-4 in Optic Nerve Head Astrocytes in Experimental Glaucoma PONE-D-20-37793R1 Dear Ms. Kimball, We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements. Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication. An invoice for payment will follow shortly after the formal acceptance. To ensure an efficient process, please log into Editorial Manager at http://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/, click the 'Update My Information' link at the top of the page, and double check that your user information is up-to-date. If you have any billing related questions, please contact our Author Billing department directly at authorbilling@plos.org. If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org. Kind regards, Sanjoy Bhattacharya Academic Editor PLOS ONE Additional Editor Comments (optional): Reviewers' comments: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244123.r003
Formally Accepted
22 Jan 2021 Acceptance Letter - Sanjoy Bhattacharya, Editor PONE-D-20-37793R1 The Role of Aquaporin-4 in Optic Nerve Head Astrocytes in Experimental Glaucoma Dear Dr. Kimball: I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now with our production department. If your institution or institutions have a press office, please let them know about your upcoming paper now to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information please contact onepress@plos.org. If we can help with anything else, please email us at plosone@plos.org. Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access. Kind regards, PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff on behalf of Dr. Sanjoy Bhattacharya Academic Editor PLOS ONE https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244123.r004

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