  Nucleon-nucleon ($NN$) interactions based on chiral effective theories are
commonly used in ab initio calculations of light nuclei. Here we present a
study based on three different NN interactions (up to next-to-next-to-leading
order) for which structure and elastic proton scattering observables are
consistently calculated for $^4$He, $^{12}$C, and $^{16}$O. The interactions
are compared at the two-body level in terms of Wolfenstein amplitudes, and
their predictions for ground state energies, point-proton radii, and charge
form factors, as well as proton elastic scattering observables in the
leading-order spectator expansion in the energy range between 65 and 160 MeV
projectile energy are presented. To gain further insight into differences
visible in elastic scattering observables, we investigate the behavior of the
calculated effective nucleon-nucleus interactions for the $^{12}$C nucleus
based on the different $NN$ interactions.
