The Enigmas of Tissue Closure: Inspiration from Drosophila

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Huang et al. wrote a comprehensive review on the formation of hollow structures through tissue closure, focusing specifically on the Drosophila model. The dynamic modulation of epithelia to form hollow structures is an essential process in various developmental stages and tissues across many organisms. The authors focused on tissue closure, which involves multiple signaling pathways and biological processes. They explored the Drosophila model system to study this phenomenon, covering instances from embryogenesis through wound healing. Overall, the authors addressed most of the relevant tissues and described the dynamics of tissue closures in each case. Here are some points to improve the review article:

 

Major points

 

Structure of the current manuscript is:

1.     Intro

2.     Tissue closure in embryogenesis – Dorsal closure, ventral closure and mesoderm tube formation, Heart tube closure

3.     Tissue closure in metamorphosis – Thoracic closure, wing vein closure

4.     Tissue closure in oogenesis – follicle cell sheet closure, Dorsal appendage

5.     Tissue closure in wound healing

6.     General steps in tissue closure

 

-        Reorganize Section 6: I suggest moving the section 'General Steps in Tissue Closure' to follow the Introduction. As the authors mentioned, tissue closure involves numerous biological processes and signaling cascades, many of which are common across different tissues and developmental stages. Therefore, developing this section further and renaming it to 'Regulatory Pathways in Tissue Closure' would provide a solid foundation for readers. This section should address detailed signaling pathways, with most pathways listed in Figure 2 included here.

-        Add Trafficking Aspect: This section should also be expanded to cover the aspect of 'trafficking.'  Endo- and exo-cytosis are major biological processes that influence lumen formation, tubulogenesis, cell migration (wound healing), and epithelial polarity. Including discussion on endosomal components and motor proteins that impact hollow structures would add valuable insights.

-        Include Salivary Gland formation in Session 2: In the embryogenesis section, if the salivary gland is relevant, it should be included.

-        Add cartoons for Sessions 3 and 4: For the sections on metamorphosis and oogenesis, adding cartoons or diagrams to describe the tissues and processes would be beneficial. This will help readers without a Drosophila background understand the content more easily, especially regarding fly oogenesis.

-        Expand Wound Healing Section: The section on wound healing can be developed further by discussing more detailed processes of polarity change (both planar and apico-basal polarity) and cell migration pathways upon wounding. Also, add a cartoon for wound healing process (separate from Figure 2). This will provide a more detailed understanding of the mechanisms involved in tissue closure during wound healing.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer，

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to submit a revised draft of the manuscript “The Enigmas of Tissue Closure: Inspiration from Drosophila” (CIMB-3061998) for publication in CIMB. 

We appreciate the time and effort that you and the editors dedicated to providing feedback on our manuscript and are grateful for the insightful comments on and valuable improvements to our paper. Based on these comments and suggestions, we have made careful modification on the original manuscript. Those changes are highlighted within the manuscript. Please see attached document for a point-by-point response to your comments and concerns. All page numbers refer to the revised manuscript file with tracked changes.

Thank you for your consideration!

Sincerely,

Xiao-jun Xie, PhD

Department of Histology and Embryology

Shantou University Medical College,

Shantou, Guangdong

China

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This review offers a comprehensive overview of tissue closure processes in Drosophila, highlighting various developmental stages and potential molecular mechanisms. The manuscript is well-structured and provides valuable insights into this crucial area of developmental biology. However, I've identified several areas for improvement to enhance the overall quality and impact of the review:

1.  The Introduction contains some spelling errors. For instance, "anacephaly" on page 1, line 42, appears to be misspelled. Also, "human" on page 2, line 47 should be "humans". A thorough proofreading of the entire manuscript is recommended.
   
   
2. Sections 2 through 6, from "Tissue Closure in Embryogenesis" to "General Steps in Tissue Closure", are generally well-structured. They cover various aspects of tissue closure from embryonic development to metamorphosis, oogenesis, and wound healing. Each section provides detailed explanations of mechanisms and molecular pathways. However, these sections read more like a list of existing results without much comparison or synthesis. Consider adding a table in Section 6 summarizing key genes and proteins involved in different tissue closure processes. This would provide a useful reference for readers. Additionally, you might consider adding brief subsections in each chapter discussing how these findings relate to other model organisms or human developmental processes. 
   
   
3.  The title "The Enigmas of Tissue Closure: Inspiration from Drosophila" is primarily reflected in Section 7, "Conclusion and Perspectives". However, this section lacks depth in demonstrating the "Inspiration" aspect. While you summarize the content, it would be beneficial to highlight key findings or important common mechanisms or signaling pathways. Although potential links to human developmental diseases are mentioned, you could discuss in more detail how findings from Drosophila research can be translated to other model organisms or human studies. As this is a perspective section, you might also mention new technologies or methods that could advance the field, such as single-cell sequencing or high-resolution imaging techniques. In essence, the Conclusion and Perspectives section should reflect the authors' viewpoints but currently feels too general. This section needs strengthening. 
   
   
4.  The references section is generally fine. Please update and add some of the latest research findings based on the manuscript revisions.

Addressing these issues will greatly enhance the quality and impact of this already content-rich review.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer，

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to submit a revised draft of the manuscript “The Enigmas of Tissue Closure: Inspiration from Drosophila” (CIMB-3061998) for publication in CIMB. 

We appreciate the time and effort that you and the editors dedicated to providing feedback on our manuscript and are grateful for the insightful comments on and valuable improvements to our paper. Based on these comments and suggestions, we have made careful modification on the original manuscript. Those changes are highlighted within the manuscript. Please see attached document for a point-by-point response to your comments and concerns. All page numbers refer to the revised manuscript file with tracked changes.

Thank you for your consideration!

Sincerely,

Xiao-jun Xie, PhD

Department of Histology and Embryology

Shantou University Medical College,

Shantou, Guangdong

China

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have addressed all my comments point by point, clarified my questions, and added the necessary details and figures. I have no further comments and recommend publishing the revised manuscript.