Cartilage Homeostasis and Osteoarthritis

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This manuscript reviewed the general development of
cartilage and OA pathology and discussed the anabolic and catabolic signals in cartilage homeostasis, mainly microRNAs. The manuscript is well designed, written, and suitable for publication after minor peer review. I suggest the following:

1) The paper needs a List of Abbreviations
2) if possible, can the authors briefly introduce a link between the biological and physiological (mechanical) frames of cartilage homesites and OA, which may help in increasing the range of reader interest for this review.  

Author Response

1) The paper needs a List of Abbreviations.

 We created abbreviations list in revised manuscript.

2) If possible, can the authors briefly introduce a link between the biological and physiological (mechanical) frames of cartilage homesites and OA, which may help in increasing the range of reader interest for this review. 

 We added the sentences that introduce a link between the biological and physiological frames of cartilage homestasis and OA in revised manuscript line63-65.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

In the review: “Cartilage Homeostasis and Osteoarthritis”  the authors explained  role  of articular cartilage, in the mechanical cushioning of joints and the maintenance of tissue homeostasis. In addition, it was described the development of OA pathology with the related anabolic and catabolic  signals.

Overall, this manuscript results very interesting, the authors clearly explain the rational of the study and discussed the topic point by point.

However, we would like to invite the authors  to clarify some minor points:

1.       Please check the check punctuation and spaces;

2.   The authors introduce the topic with the description of OA, however the references [1-3] used  are old, please update them;

3. In the introduction section, the authors described the pharmacological interventions available for OA diseases, however, also no-pharmacological treatments are currently employed. The authors should mention those too;

4. The authors clearly described the importance of tissue homeostasis, in this context, also synoviocytes  play an important role, the authors should briefly introduce also this topic;  

5.  In the context of cartilage homeostasis is required and the production of specific anabolic and catabolic signals involved OA disease, the authors should also introduce the importance and the actuality of proteomic study. In this the following reference should be useful: “Russo R, Vassallo V, Stellavato A, Valletta M, Cimini D, Pedone PV, Schiraldi C, Chambery A. Differential Secretome Profiling of Human Osteoarthritic Synoviocytes Treated with Biotechnological Unsulfated and Marine Sulfated Chondroitins. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 May 26;21(11):3746. doi: 10.3390/ijms21113746. PMID: 32466468”;

6.   In the paragraph related to the role Sox-9 of chodrogenesis, the authors discussed about  the reduction of Col2a1 due to the  Sox-9 down-regulation. What about the expression of Col1a1? Could it replace Col2a1?;

Author Response

1)Please check the check punctuation and spaces.

 We checked and corrected punctuations and spaces throughout the manuscript.

2) The authors introduce the topic with the description of OA, however the references [1-3] used are old, please update them

 We added a new reference to the topic with the description of OA.

3) In the introduction section, the authors described the pharmacological interventions available for OA diseases, however, also no-pharmacological treatments are currently employed. The authors should mention those too.

 We agreed with the reviewer’s comment, we added description of no-pharmacological treatments in revised manuscript line75-78.

4) The authors clearly described the importance of tissue homeostasis, in this context, also synoviocytes play an important role, the authors should briefly introduce also this topic.

 We agree that synoviocytes play an important role in tissue homeostasis and added description of this topic in revised manuscript line68-72.

5) In the context of cartilage homeostasis is required and the production of specific anabolic and catabolic signals involved OA disease, the authors should also introduce the importance and the actuality of proteomic study. In this the following reference should be useful: “Russo R, Vassallo V, Stellavato A, Valletta M, Cimini D, Pedone PV, Schiraldi C, Chambery A. Differential Secretome Profiling of Human Osteoarthritic Synoviocytes Treated with Biotechnological Unsulfated and Marine Sulfated Chondroitins. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 May 26;21(11):3746. doi: 10.3390/ijms21113746. PMID: 32466468”; 

 We added a statement about the importance of proteomic studies based on the paper suggested by the reviewer in revised manuscript line46-59.

6) In the paragraph related to the role Sox-9 of chodrogenesis, the authors discussed about  the reduction of Col2a1 due to the  Sox-9 down-regulation. What about the expression of Col1a1? Could it replace Col2a1?.

 Thank you for your comment, we added description of Col1a1 expression in revised manuscript line106-107 and 364-366.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.