Prof. Nissan Yissachar

Selected Publications 

1. Yissachar, N., Zhou, Y., Ung, L., Lai, N. Y., Mohan, J. F., Ehrlicher, A., Weitz, D. A., Kasper, D. L., Chiu, I. M., Mathis, D., & Benoist, C. (2017). An intestinal organ culture system uncovers a role for the nervous system in microbe-immune crosstalk. Cell, 168(6), 1135–1148.e12.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2017.02.009

Introduces an intestinal organ culture system that preserves tissue architecture and reveals how gut bacteria activate sensory neurons, suggesting that neuronal signaling helps determine whether microbial interactions trigger pro-inflammatory or regulatory immune responses.

2. Bootz-Maoz, H., Pearl, A., Melzer, E., Malnick, S., Sharon, E., Bennet, Y., Tsentsarevsky, R., Abuchatzera, S., Amidror, S., Aretz, E., Azriel, S., Gam Ze Letova, C., Naama, M., Shoval, I., Yaron, O., Karako-Lampert, S., Bel, S., & Yissachar, N. (2022). Diet-induced modifications to human microbiome reshape colonic homeostasis in irritable bowel syndrome. Cell Reports, 41(7), 111657.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111657

Demonstrates that dietary changes in patients with irritable bowel syndrome alter the gut microbiome's effects on intestinal tissue, identifying Bifidobacterium adolescentis as a diet-sensitive bacterium that disrupts intestinal barrier function and providing mechanistic support for microbiome-targeted approaches to IBS.

3. Bootz-Maoz, H., Simon, A., Del Mare-Roumani, S., Bennet, Y., Toister, E., Romano, H., Zheng, D., Amidror, S., Elinav, E., & Yissachar, N. (2023). Ex vivo intestinal permeability assay (X-IPA) for tracking barrier function dynamics. npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, 9, 44.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-023-00409-0

Develops an ex vivo method for measuring changes in intestinal permeability in real time, demonstrating how specific gut bacteria and microbial metabolites can rapidly alter barrier function and providing a tool for investigating the mechanisms underlying intestinal health and disease.

4. Naim, G., Romano-Zadaka, H., Amidror, S., Jessula Levy, D., Cohen, A., Sochen, C., Gilberg, H., Farah, N., Rudenko, V., Yarden, Y., Feng, M., Tsentsarevsky, R., Brodie, Z., Reich, Y., Simon, A., Toister, E., Shoval, I., Armon, L., Schiller, M., Mandel, Y., Biton, M., & Yissachar, N. (2025). Optogenetics-integrated gut organ culture system connects enteric neurons dynamics and gut homeostasis. Nature Communications, 16, 10010.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64995-7

Develops an optogenetics-integrated intestinal culture system that enables precise control of enteric neurons, demonstrating how distinct neuronal populations and activity patterns regulate intestinal immune responses and epithelial barrier integrity, and how gut bacteria can modify these effects.

5. Bootz-Maoz, H., Del Mare-Roumani, S., Naim, G., Azriel, O., Cohen, A., Bennet, Y., Sharon, E., Amidror, S., & Yissachar, N. (2026). Uncoupling drug and microbiota contributions to chemotherapy-induced gut toxicity. bioRxiv [Preprint].

https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.06.30.735444

Shows in experimental models that chemotherapy and the resulting changes in gut microbiota can independently damage the intestinal barrier through distinct biological pathways, identifying microbiome disruption as a potential target for reducing chemotherapy-associated gastrointestinal toxicity.