Reviewer's report
Title:The actin-bundling protein Fascin is overexpressed in inflammatory bowel
disease and may be important in tissue repair.
Version: 1Date:11 October 2010
Reviewer: Evanthia Kostopoulou
Reviewer's report:
The present paper is dealing with the interesting subject of fascin expression in
IBD, considering also the effects of therapeutic modalities on this expression.
Although it is an interesting study, according to my opinion, there are a few
points, which do not allow publication in its present form, and these are
mentioned below.
According to my opinion, the paper could be accepted after revision for
publication in BMC Gastroenterology.
Major Compulsory Revisions:
1. Materials and methods: A paragraph for statistics should be added.
2. Materials and methods: The authors did not comment on apoptosis detection.
3. Results: Figure 1C is not clear enough, but still suggests that differences in
stromal positivity might deserve a brief comment in the results or discussion
session.
Minor Essential Revisions:
4. Results: 2nd part, 3rd paragraph, «We have shown previously…» The phrases
belong to the discussion or introduction session.
Discretionary Revisions:
5. From the descriptions presented fascin seems to be upregulated in two
scenarios: surface flattened cells and crypt cells. The authors might try to
separate the two conditions, taking into consideration the fact that in several
situations fascin expressing cells are not the proliferating cells [a,b]. Additionally,
it would be interesting, although not necessary for the purpose of the present
study, to examine Ki-67 LI in the fascin-positive groups of cells.
6. Discussion: A comment may be added concerning epithelial-mesenchymal
transition in IBD, as presented in recent reports.
a) Kostopoulou E, Daponte A, Terzis A, Nakou M, Chiotoglou I, Theodosiou D, et
al. Fascin in ovarian epithelial tumors. Histol Histopathol 2008; 23:935–44.
b) Machesky L and Li A. Fascin. Invasive filopodia promoting metastasis.
Commun Integr Biology 2010; 3: 263-270
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: Yes, but I do not feel adequately qualified to assess the
statistics.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Reviewer's report
Title:The actin-bundling protein Fascin is overexpressed in inflammatory bowel
disease and may be important in tissue repair.
Version: 1Date:11 October 2010
Reviewer: Evanthia Kostopoulou
Reviewer's report:
The present paper is dealing with the interesting subject of fascin expression in
IBD, considering also the effects of therapeutic modalities on this expression.
Although it is an interesting study, according to my opinion, there are a few
points, which do not allow publication in its present form, and these are
mentioned below.
According to my opinion, the paper could be accepted after revision for
publication in BMC Gastroenterology.
Major Compulsory Revisions:
1. Materials and methods: A paragraph for statistics should be added.
2. Materials and methods: The authors did not comment on apoptosis detection.
3. Results: Figure 1C is not clear enough, but still suggests that differences in
stromal positivity might deserve a brief comment in the results or discussion
session.
Minor Essential Revisions:
4. Results: 2nd part, 3rd paragraph, «We have shown previously…» The phrases
belong to the discussion or introduction session.
Discretionary Revisions:
5. From the descriptions presented fascin seems to be upregulated in two
scenarios: surface flattened cells and crypt cells. The authors might try to
separate the two conditions, taking into consideration the fact that in several
situations fascin expressing cells are not the proliferating cells [a,b]. Additionally,
it would be interesting, although not necessary for the purpose of the present
study, to examine Ki-67 LI in the fascin-positive groups of cells.
6. Discussion: A comment may be added concerning epithelial-mesenchymal
transition in IBD, as presented in recent reports.
a) Kostopoulou E, Daponte A, Terzis A, Nakou M, Chiotoglou I, Theodosiou D, et
al. Fascin in ovarian epithelial tumors. Histol Histopathol 2008; 23:935–44.
b) Machesky L and Li A. Fascin. Invasive filopodia promoting metastasis.
Commun Integr Biology 2010; 3: 263-270
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: Yes, but I do not feel adequately qualified to assess the
statistics.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer's report
Title:The actin-bundling protein Fascin is overexpressed in inflammatory bowel
disease and may be important in tissue repair.
Version: 1Date:11 October 2010
Reviewer: Evanthia Kostopoulou
Reviewer's report:
The present paper is dealing with the interesting subject of fascin expression in
IBD, considering also the effects of therapeutic modalities on this expression.
Although it is an interesting study, according to my opinion, there are a few
points, which do not allow publication in its present form, and these are
mentioned below.
According to my opinion, the paper could be accepted after revision for
publication in BMC Gastroenterology.
Major Compulsory Revisions:
1. Materials and methods: A paragraph for statistics should be added.
2. Materials and methods: The authors did not comment on apoptosis detection.
3. Results: Figure 1C is not clear enough, but still suggests that differences in
stromal positivity might deserve a brief comment in the results or discussion
session.
Minor Essential Revisions:
4. Results: 2nd part, 3rd paragraph, «We have shown previously…» The phrases
belong to the discussion or introduction session.
Discretionary Revisions:
5. From the descriptions presented fascin seems to be upregulated in two
scenarios: surface flattened cells and crypt cells. The authors might try to
separate the two conditions, taking into consideration the fact that in several
situations fascin expressing cells are not the proliferating cells [a,b]. Additionally,
it would be interesting, although not necessary for the purpose of the present
study, to examine Ki-67 LI in the fascin-positive groups of cells.
6. Discussion: A comment may be added concerning epithelial-mesenchymal
transition in IBD, as presented in recent reports.
a) Kostopoulou E, Daponte A, Terzis A, Nakou M, Chiotoglou I, Theodosiou D, et
al. Fascin in ovarian epithelial tumors. Histol Histopathol 2008; 23:935–44.
b) Machesky L and Li A. Fascin. Invasive filopodia promoting metastasis.
Commun Integr Biology 2010; 3: 263-270
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: Yes, but I do not feel adequately qualified to assess the
statistics.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
assistant