IL-17A Cytokine-Regulated Glut1 Expression in Placenta Cells

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Article Review: "IL-17A Cytokine Regulated Glut1 Expression in Placenta Cells"

Summary: This basic science study delves into the investigation of association of IL17-A expression in placental cells with the expression of glucose transporters.  Main finding is that treatment of placenta cells with IL17-A leads to upregulation of Glut 1 and 3. This finding is confirmed in vivo in a mouse model.

 

Comments/Revisions:

1.       The study is methogolically sound with high quality data and is worthy of publication.

2.       It would be beneficial for the authors to elaborate on potential clinical implications of their findings.  In the ‘Discussion’, the authors suggest that future research could shed light on the impact of IL17-A on placental tissue, fetal health and placenta related pathologies. They need to be more specific on what are the pathologic entities that their research could have an impact on and in which way. They also need to be more specific on the potential role of IL17-A as a screening, monitoring tool or therapeutic target.

 

Recommendation: Minor revision

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Article Review: "IL-17A Cytokine Regulated Glut1 Expression in Placenta Cells"

Summary: This basic science study delves into the investigation of association of IL17-A expression in placental cells with the expression of glucose transporters.  Main finding is that treatment of placenta cells with IL17-A leads to upregulation of Glut 1 and 3. This finding is confirmed in vivo in a mouse model.

 

Comments/Revisions:

1.       The study is methogolically sound with high quality data and is worthy of publication.

2.       It would be beneficial for the authors to elaborate on potential clinical implications of their findings.  In the ‘Discussion’, the authors suggest that future research could shed light on the impact of IL17-A on placental tissue, fetal health and placenta related pathologies. They need to be more specific on what are the pathologic entities that their research could have an impact on and in which way. They also need to be more specific on the potential role of IL17-A as a screening, monitoring tool or therapeutic target.

 

Recommendation: Minor revision

Author Response

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The work raises interesting aspects about the regulation of placental metabolism. However, it requires a very important revision before it can be published.

The introduction presents some of the most important aspects of the topic of the work. However, due to the interspecific variability of metabolism and placental immunity, it must be clarified which species the data presented refer to, whether it is human or some animal model. The sentence that occupies lines 50-52 is confusing and should be redrafted. The objectives of the work are not explained in sufficient detail, especially with regard to in vivo experiments, where it would be important to clarify why that moment of pregnancy was chosen to extract the samples.

In materials and methods, the experimental design is confusing. Experiments with animals would have to be described prior to the techniques that are going to be applied to the organs extracted from them. It would also be important to clarify the objective of each methodology carried out and make a diagram or graph that summarizes the design of the work.

In results various sentences should be removed “In the previous study, the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNFα and IL-17A were reported to contribute to glycolysis in colorectal cancer cells. It should be part of the discussion”, “ Several reports have shown that increased maternal IL-17A affects fetal brain development” and “According to SFARI Gene (https://www.sfari.org/resource/sfari gene/), it has been reported that the expression of several transporters is inhibited in the brain of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) [Table 3] this aspect would have to be presented in the introduction and then discussed. Table 3 does not show a result either.

The results section is difficult to read, division into sections is suggested. The graphs and tables are adequate but figures 1 and 2 are small in size.

The discussion needs to be rewritten. The analysis of the results is very superficial. It is necessary that all the results be discussed and that a synthesis be carried out comparing those obtained from cell cultures and animal experiments. In particular, the results in the fetal brain should be further explored.

There are formal errors in the citations

All abbreviations used must be clarified

Author Response

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

In the manuscript titled "IL-17A Cytokine Regulated Glut1 Expression in Placenta Cells," Lee and Kim presented the effects of IL-17A and Poly(I:C) on two cell lines, JAR and JEG-3. They found no morphological differences or changes in cell viability with IL-17A and Poly(I:C) treatments. However, notable differences were observed in certain cytokines, PPARγ, Glut1, and Glut3 expression. Next, Lee and Kim investigated the effect of Poly(I:C) in a MIA-induced mouse model and found increased IL-17RA protein expression. The overall writing and presentation are suitable for publication, but some concerns need to be addressed before acceptance:
1.  In Figure 1B, all four bar diagrams are not clearly labeled to identify the results. I assume one set is for JAR and the other for JEG-3, but they need to be labeled properly. Additionally, the fourth bar diagram (100 μg/ml) is significantly higher compared to the control, yet the authors did not comment on this in the article.
  2. The quantification of mRNA expression was reported based on agarose gel analysis. It is well known that gene expression quantification should be done using quantitative real-time PCR, not agarose gel.
 3.   In line 178, it states that protein expression is shown in Figure 2C. However, the image and legend for Figure 2C indicate mRNA expression, not protein. Please clarify.
  4.  Overall, the graphs need improvements in axis labeling for clarity.

Author Response

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have made  some of the suggested changes and justified the others in the present form the mansucript could be accepted