Chronic Monocular Deprivation Reveals MMP9-Dependent and -Independent Aspects of Murine Visual System Plasticity

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

_{In this Article, Murase et al., addressed an important question how  MMP9 with chronic monocular deprivation (cMD) impacts visual system plasticity. The article was well written, experiments were clear.}

Author Response

Reviewer#1

In this Article, Murase et al., addressed an important question how MMP9 with chronic monocular deprivation (cMD) impacts visual system plasticity. The article was well written, experiments were clear.

We thank the reviewer’s supportive view of our work.

Reviewer 2 Report

In the present article by Murase et al. with the title "Chronic monocular deprivation reveals MMP9-dependent and -independent aspects of murine visual system plasticity", the authors provide a thorough analysis of MMP9 contributions to plasticity in the murine visual system. The paper deserves to be published in the Special Issue "Molecular Mechanisms of Neural Plasticity: From Basic Research to Implications for Visual Functional Rescue". Still, several minor issues should be addressed to finalize it.

I would highly recommend adding a Conclusion to the manuscript to highlight the aim and the main results of the research.

The light blue and pink colors in the figures are too pale.

The abbreviation 'cpd' should be introduced when it is mentioned for the first time (line 200).

Some parentheses are missed (lines 168-173, 247-253, 583-586, 186) throughout the manuscript.

Author Response

In the present article by Murase et al. with the title "Chronic monocular deprivation reveals MMP9-dependent and -independent aspects of murine visual system plasticity", the authors provide a thorough analysis of MMP9 contributions to plasticity in the murine visual system. The paper deserves to be published in the Special Issue "Molecular Mechanisms of Neural Plasticity: From Basic Research to Implications for Visual Functional Rescue". Still, several minor issues should be addressed to finalize it.

We thank the reviewer’s supportive view of our work, and appreciate the valuable suggestions for improvement.

I would highly recommend adding a Conclusion to the manuscript to highlight the aim and the main results of the research.

We added “Conclusions” section after “Materials and Methods” following the journal’s format, stating the aim and the main conclusions of the study.

The light blue and pink colors in the figures are too pale.

We now changed all the figures using darker “light blue” and “pink”.

The abbreviation 'cpd' should be introduced when it is mentioned for the first time (line 200).

The abbreviation was introduced.

Some parentheses are missed (lines 168-173, 247-253, 583-586, 186) throughout the manuscript.

The parentheses are corrected.