Peer Review History
Original SubmissionJuly 21, 2021 |
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PONE-D-21-23667 Polystyrene microplastic particles induce endothelial activation PLOS ONE Dear Dr. Grote, 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. Please submit your revised manuscript by Oct 15 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. Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:
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Kind regards, Yi Cao Academic Editor PLOS ONE Journal Requirements: When submitting your revision, we need you to address these additional requirements. 1. Please ensure that your manuscript meets PLOS ONE's style requirements, including those for file naming. The PLOS ONE style templates can be found at https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/file?id=wjVg/PLOSOne_formatting_sample_main_body.pdf and [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: Partly Reviewer #2: Yes Reviewer #3: Yes ********** 2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: Yes Reviewer #3: Yes ********** 3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available? The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified. Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: Yes Reviewer #3: Yes ********** 4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English? PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here. Reviewer #1: No Reviewer #2: Yes Reviewer #3: Yes ********** 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: In this study the authors demonstrate that polystyrene microplastics induce endothelial activation through in vivo and in vitro mouse model experiments. Although the results are very interesting, the study is very poorly presented with no real discussion of the data. Therefore, I request major revision for this study. Following several requests: The abstract is really badly written and poorly organized. For example: Line 30: In my opinion, it is improper to use “substance” referring to plastic items. Please, revise the sentence. Line 31: “Small particles”. What do you mean? Please, insert the size. Line 31-36: Rather than talking about the microplastics classification (put it in the intro), it would be more appropriate to explain the premise of this work in detail. In addition, it would be important for readers to adds details on the methods (Have you performed an in vitro study? In vivo study? Etc.) Line 50 and 55: Please, refer to the document “Plastic Europe, 2020” not to the website. Line 54-55: At least one citation is required! Line 55: Please, check the English sentence! Line 57: Maybe the citation [3] is inappropriate. Please, there are thousands of citation that you can use. Line 65-67: …PS also led to the aggregation and endothelial adhesion of RBC (Please, see Barshtein et al., 2016 doi: 10.1007/s12013-015-0705-6). Line 80-81: You have used in your study carboxylated MPs but you never mentioned before. Please, check: Murano et al., 2021 (doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.647394). Use it for explaining the relevance of carboxy-modified particles in environment. Line 86: Why was such a high concentration of particles used in this study? Please, add an explanation. Line 211: Just curiosity. Did you find the particles only in the liver or in other organs as well? The discussions need to be expanded. There is no part of comparison with other studies in the literature or general considerations also made on marine organisms for example. Another suggestion is related to the title: why use the word “particles” if microplastic is a particle? Reviewer #2: Dear Authors, this is an interesting manuscript which for the first time highlights, through in vitro experiments and using mouse models, some new aspects of the deleterious effects of microplastics at the vascular level. In particular, the Authors found that polystyrene microplastic particles (PS) induce activation of endothelial cells (increased expression of adhesion molecules and leukocyte interaction) and increases the expression and release of inflammatory cytokines from monocytic cells. They also demonstrate PS uptake by circulating neutrophils. Although the topic is very interesting, some points are not clear. Here are my comments: • MATERIALS AND METHODS: Line 73: The "MyEND" cells as reported in reference number 15 is a cell line: it should be specified. Line 81: TRICT is an acronym and I suggest specifying Tetramethylrhodamine the first time it is mentioned. Line 96: An important point that was not mentioned and that the Authors must specify is how many animals were used, this is important for the data statistical significance, especially for the experiments performed on blood, liver and aortic tissue samples. Line 109: which genes were evaluated, and which primers were used? It must be specified in the methods before finding them cited in the results and in the figures legends. • RESULTS: Figures S2: The Authors performed only 2 experiments even though 3 experiments would have been better to reach statistical significance but defining it as a pilot study this could be accepted. However, in the legend it is not clear at 3 and 6 hours which PS concentration was used, specify as in the results 107. In J774A.1 cells, interleukin 1beta increases more at 3 hours than at 6 hours which is like the control; how do the authors justify this? Why did the authors choose 3 and 6 hours? It would have been interesting to evaluate longer stimulation times to visualize a chronic effect (like 24, 48, 72 hours of stimulation) which is what happens in real life. In fact, the chronicity of encountering microplastics leads to diseases. The authors have discussed this (Lines 263-266) but they could expand this concept by adding some references about it as well. Figure 1: Does n = 7-10 refer to the number of experiments conducted? Figure 2: Authors should show more representative images of the reported data (especially for B) Figure 3A: It is low resolution, improve the resolution. Line 213 add a reference at the end of the sentence "indicating a hepatic inflammatory response to the PS particles". Figure 4 and Line 229: ICAM-1 does not reach statistical significance, please specify that it is a trend. Line 238: does n = 7 / group mean 7 mice per group? see comment on the number of mice in the comments on materials and methods. Reviewer #3: In this study Ann-Kathrin Vlacil and collaborators demonstrate that microplastics are new environmental risk factors for endothelial inflammation. The topic of this paper is very interesting and data convincing. Only few issues should be addressed in order to improve this study for the readers of PlosOne: 1. In Material and Methods, “Cell Culture and Treatment” paragraph, cells were exposed for 3 and 6 hours to PS particles (as also reported in suppl figure 2), instead in “Cell viability assay” and “adhesion assay” the exposure is for 16 hours. Please better clarify the exposure time to PS particles. What is the rationale in choosing 3, 6 and 16 hours? Probably a time course with the addition of longer exposure could be appropriate. Please provide data in case author have performed experiments of longer exposure. 2. In figure 2 images of the total well representative of a bigger field should be added to have a more consistent idea of cell adhesion. ********** 6. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files. If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public. Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy. Reviewer #1: No Reviewer #2: No Reviewer #3: No [NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.] While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/. PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org. Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step. |
Revision 1 |
PONE-D-21-23667R1Polystyrene microplastic particles induce endothelial activationPLOS ONE Dear Dr. Grote, 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. ============================== ACADEMIC EDITOR: Please make a minor revision according to the comments of reviewer 1 before the final acceptance of your manuscript. ============================== Please submit your revised manuscript by Dec 16 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. Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:
If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols. We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript. Kind regards, Yi Cao Academic Editor PLOS ONE Journal Requirements: Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice. [Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.] Reviewers' comments: Reviewer's Responses to Questions Comments to the Author 1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation. Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed Reviewer #3: All comments have been addressed ********** 2. 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 Reviewer #3: Yes ********** 3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: Yes Reviewer #3: Yes ********** 4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available? The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified. Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: Yes Reviewer #3: Yes ********** 5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English? PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here. Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: Yes Reviewer #3: Yes ********** 6. 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 authors have adequately addressed my previous comments and improved the quality of the manuscript. However, some small issues could be addressed. -First of all, in my opinion, even define plastic as a "resource" is somehow incorrect. Therefore, the authors have to review the first sentence of the abstract. Plastic is a material/a product .... -"In vivo" and "in vitro" must be must be written to Italic character -Check References I really appreciate the example images And I hope the authors will provide further insights on this topic for future publications. Reviewer #2: The Authors have been addressed all comments. Hence, the manuscript has been improved and I have not further comment. Reviewer #3: (No Response) ********** 7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files. If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public. Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy. Reviewer #1: No Reviewer #2: No Reviewer #3: No [NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.] While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/. PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org. Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step. |
Revision 2 |
Polystyrene microplastic particles induce endothelial activation PONE-D-21-23667R2 Dear Dr. Grote, 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, Yi Cao Academic Editor PLOS ONE Additional Editor Comments (optional): Reviewers' comments: |
Formally Accepted |
PONE-D-21-23667R2 Polystyrene microplastic particles induce endothelial activation Dear Dr. Grote: 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. Yi Cao Academic Editor PLOS ONE |
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