The EMBO Journal Table of Contents for 12 June 2015; Vol. 34, No. 12

12 June 2015 | Volume 34, Number 12 Submit Table of Contents Editorial Have you seen? Articles Volume 34, Number 12 Editorial Dora the Brave The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) points out that using the Journal Impact Factor as a proxy measure for the value or quality of specific research and of individual scientists leads to biased research assessment. How can we resist misusing metrics? Bernd Pulverer Published online 08.06.2015 Have you seen? Poised for action: USP18 restrains microglial activation in the white matter Dedicated mechanisms actively maintain CNS macrophages in a quiescent state to avoid constitutive activation and immune pathology. Kazuyuki Takata and Florent Ginhoux Published online 13.05.2015 RNA degradation drives stem cell differentiation The nonsense‐mediated decay pathway contributes to stem cell differentiation by reducing mRNA levels for key pluripotency genes. Chih‐Hong Lou, Eleen Y Shum, and Miles F Wilkinson Published online 21.04.2015 REV7/MAD2L2: the multitasking maestro emerges as a barrier to recombination Two new papers implicating REV7/MAD2L2 in DNA double strand break repair pathway choice further extend the impressive functional spectrum of this translesion synthesis and mitotic control factor. Julian E Sale Published online 20.04.2015 Articles USP18 lack in microglia causes destructive interferonopathy of the mouse brain The non‐catalytic anti‐inflammatory function of a deubiquitination enzyme plays a key role in preventing microglia activation and neuroinflammation in mouse brains. Tobias Goldmann, Nicolas Zeller, Jenni Raasch, Katrin Kierdorf, Kathrin Frenzel, Lars Ketscher, Anja Basters, Ori Staszewski, Stefanie M Brendecke, Alena Spiess, Tuan Leng Tay, Clemens Kreutz, Jens Timmer, Grazia MS Mancini, Thomas Blank, Günter Fritz, Knut Biber, Roland Lang, Danielle Malo, Doron Merkler, Mathias Heikenwälder, Klaus‐Peter Knobeloch, and Marco Prinz Published online 20.04.2015 Smg6/Est1 licenses embryonic stem cell differentiation via nonsense‐mediated mRNA decay New genetic data show that the NMD pathway is dispensable for growth of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) but essential for differentiation and reprogramming via repression of key pluripotency genes. Tangliang Li, Yue Shi, Pei Wang, Luis Miguel Guachalla, Baofa Sun, Tjard Joerss, Yu‐Sheng Chen, Marco Groth, Anja Krueger, Matthias Platzer, Yun‐Gui Yang, Karl Lenhard Rudolph, and Zhao‐Qi Wang Published online 14.03.2015 Neuropeptide Y regulates the hematopoietic stem cell microenvironment and prevents nerve injury in the bone marrow Neuropeptide Y maintains hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow by instructing the stromal microenvironment. Min Hee Park, Hee Kyung Jin, Woo‐Kie Min, Won Woo Lee, Jeong Eun Lee, Haruhiko Akiyama, Herbert Herzog, Grigori N Enikolopov, Edward H Schuchman, and Jae‐sung Bae Published online 27.04.2015 Adaptation of avian influenza A (H6N1) virus from avian to human receptor‐binding preference Historical analysis of influenza H6N1 isolates from 1972 until 2013, when the first human infection occurred, reveals amino acid changes that change receptor binding preference from birds to humans and therefore virus ability to cross the species barrier. Fei Wang, Jianxun Qi, Yuhai Bi, Wei Zhang, Min Wang, Baorong Zhang, Ming Wang, Jinhua Liu, Jinghua Yan, Yi Shi, and George F Gao Published online 04.05.2015 The stress response neuropeptide CRF increases amyloid‐β production by regulating γ‐secretase activity The critical stress mediator corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) increases amyloid‐β production by altering γ‐secretase localization and activity, thus providing a link between stress and amyloid‐β pathology. Hyo‐Jin Park, Yong Ran, Joo In Jung, Oliver Holmes, Ashleigh R Price, Lisa Smithson, Carolina Ceballos‐Diaz, Chul Han, Michael S Wolfe, Yehia Daaka, Andrey E Ryabinin, Seong‐Hun Kim, Richard L Hauger, Todd E Golde, and Kevin M Felsenstein Published online 11.05.2015 Noncanonical regulation of alkylation damage resistance by the OTUD4 deubiquitinase Human OTUD4 controls ubiquitination of alkylation repair demethylases ALKBH2 and ALKBH3 by coordinating deubiquitinases USP7 and USP9X, while itself acting in a non‐catalytic manner. Yu Zhao, Mona C Majid, Jennifer M Soll, Joshua R Brickner, Sebastian Dango, and Nima Mosammaparast Published online 05.05.2015 Dampening DNA damage checkpoint signalling via coordinated BRCT domain interactions The DNA repair scaffold proteins Slx4 and Rtt107 utilize a minimal multi‐BRCT‐domain module for phosphatase‐independent down‐regulation of DNA damage response signals in yeast. José R Cussiol, Carolyn M Jablonowski, Askar Yimit, Grant W Brown, and Marcus B Smolka Published online 20.04.2015 Short loop length and high thermal stability determine genomic instability induced by G‐quadruplex‐forming minisatellites In vivo formation of G‐quadruplex (G4) DNA structures formed by G‐rich DNA, which affects various biological processes, remains difficult to predict based on sequence features. A yeast minisatellite instability assay reveals features required for G4 DNA to form replication roadblocks inside cells. Aurèle Piazza, Michael Adrian, Frédéric Samazan, Brahim Heddi, Florian Hamon, Alexandre Serero, Judith Lopes, Marie‐Paule Teulade‐Fichou, Anh Tuân Phan, and Alain Nicolas Published online 08.05.2015   Unsubscribe from or edit your subscription for this service. Or by mail: Customer Service * 425 Broadway St * Redwood City, CA 94063 * U.S.A. Copyright © 2015 by the European Molecular Biology Organisation.