Haemophilin-Producing Strains of Haemophilus haemolyticus Protect Respiratory Epithelia from NTHi Colonisation and Internalisation
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript "Haemophilin-producing strains of Haemophilus 2 haemolyticus protect respiratory epithelia from NTHi 3 colonization and internalization” by Atto et al. describes the inhibitory effect of the novel heme-binding protein haemophilin (Hpl) from Haemophilus haemoluticus on nontypeable Haemophilus influenza (NTHI) colonization. This article is well-written and logically structured. I have only several minor points to address to the authors:
It is important to illustrate NTHi attachment and invasion (Figure 1) with microscope pictures and to show the morphology of the two cell lines (A549 and D562) used. This will open the article to a larger audience and not only to NTHi experts.
Minor points:
- The meaning of statistical difference (***) for Figure S1A and B at 4 hrs is not clear.
- Figure 2C and 2D: The bars for statistical comparisons are not properly adjusted in the graph.
Author Response
Please see attachment.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
I find this issue very attractive and interesting, with a huge further potential. Authors need only to expand their worki, to include note clinical Hameophilus strains.
Author Response
We thank the reviewer for the encouraging feedback. To emphasise the importance of testing more clinical strains, we have slightly amended our conclusion on line 330 (change highlighted yellow).
