PONE-D-24-36944Identification and characterization of a target antigen recognized by the monoclonal antibody against Opisthorchis viverriniPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Thanan,

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.

• Double check the MS for English usage, and typos.
• Demonstrate the antigen recognition pattern, and the usefulness in Ov and non-Ov samples.
• Clear the points raised by the Reviewers, especially the additional experiments required. 

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Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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This research was supported by the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) via Cholangiocarcinoma Research Institute, Khon Kaen University and the Fundamental Fund of Khon Kaen University from the National Science, Research and Innovation Fund (NSRF). We would like to acknowledge Prof. Yukifumi Nawa, for editing the MS via Publication Clinic KKU, Thailand. 

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Additional Editor Comments:

The study by Thanan and cols. aimed to support an important area in opisthorchiasis, improving the diagnosis of the parasite in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Despite the merit of the study, there are several points to be addressed in order to determine the reliability of the findings, such as monoclonal KKU505 antigen recognition pattern, and the usefulness in Ov and non-Ov samples.

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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: Partly

Reviewer #2: Partly

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

Reviewer #1: I Don't Know

Reviewer #2: N/A

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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: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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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

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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:  The manuscript entitled "Identification and characterization of a target antigen recognized by the monoclonal antibody against Opisthorchis viverrini" by Techasen and coworkers had been reviewed. Generally, the study in the manuscript dealt with an interesting topic. The study format was well designed and the data are valuable for publication. I do feel that it has merit but does not fully meet the publication standard as it currently stands. The authors can submit an improved version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised as follows as well as in the attached review report.

1. The language of the manuscript still needs to be polished to improve accuracy throughout the whole manuscript, especially in the results and discussion sections (see my comments in the attached review report).

2. How is the affinity between the mAb and Ov myosin?

3. Does the mAb recognize the host myosin? I would like to suggest including a homology analysis on the parasite myosin and host orthologs in the manuscript, especially focusing on the binding sites predicted by the molecular modeling.

4. The discussion section can still be deepened. Can authors explain why the mAb cannot recognize the trimmed myosin (spanning nt. 120-2,256 encoding 712 aa) in the ELISA test (Fig 2B).

Reviewer #2:  This manuscript primarily focuses on identifying the target antigen in Opisthorchis viverrini recognized by the monoclonal antibody (clone KKU505) developed in previous research. However, there are still several significant areas where additional experiments and further clarification are needed.

1. 1. Can the KKU505 monoclonal antibody detect the ES products of O. viverrini? If it can, the authors should conduct target identification of KKU505 within the ES products of O. viverrini.

2. 2. The Western blot shows a broad area of reactivity. Why did the authors select only two distinct bands for analysis? Why not include the entire reactive region?

3. Since 1D gel-mass spectrometry may lack accuracy, the authors should use additional methods in parallel, such as immunoprecipitation or 2DE-immunomics.

4. What is the specific epitope recognized by the KKU505 monoclonal antibody?

5. For the LC-MS/MS results, please provide a complete list of peptides identified through mass spectrometry, in a supplementary table to ensure unbiased selection.

6. Ideally, this study should include identification of the targets specifically recognized by the KKU505 monoclonal antibody in feces and urine.

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Reviewer #1: Yes:  Pengfei Cai

Reviewer #2: No

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: Final_Techasen et al_241113_ps PC.docx

Identification and characterization of a target antigen recognized by the monoclonal antibody against Opisthorchis viverrini

PONE-D-24-36944R1

Dear Dr. Thanan,

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.

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Kind regards,

Marcello Otake Sato, Ph.D., D.V.M.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

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: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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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

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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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

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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

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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: Thank you for addressing our comments in the revised version. I am satisfied that all my concerns have been resolved.

Some minor points:

Ln 130-133, these two sentences are repetitive.

Ln 341-6, the paragraph is repetitive to the description in the methods. Better to delete it.

Ln 347, PCR with T7 promotor primers (make sure this is correct)

Ln 348-9, the sentence is unclear

Reviewer #2: This manuscript can be accepted. The revised version addressed all of the concerning point with ethics, well analysis and well written.

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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

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