Benoit Chassaing

Assistant Professor, Georgia State University, Institute for Biomedical Sciences, 2015-2017
Postdoctoral Fellow, Georgia State University, Institute for Biomedical Sciences, 2012-2015
Ph.D., Cellular and Molecular Microbiology, Auvergne University, 2011
B.S., Genetic and Physiology, Auvergne University, 2008

- Intestinal Microbiota
- Inflammation
- Diet/Microbiota interactions
- Gut/Brain axis

Benoit Chassaing was born and raised in Clermont-Ferrand, France. He obtained his Ph.D. in microbiology at the Auvergne University, identifying factors involved in the virulence of adherent and invasive Escherichia coli strains (pathovar involved in the etiology of Crohn's disease).

Following his Ph.D. completion in 2011, he joined Georgia State University in Atlanta where he worked with Dr. Andrew T. Gewirtz on various aspects of the intestinal microbiota and mucosal immunology, trying to decipher how genetic and environmental factors can perturb the intestinal microbiota composition in a detrimental way, leading to intestinal inflammation.

Chassaing was appointed assistant professor in 2015, and he recently joined the Neuroscience Institute in order to pursue his research on the role of the microbiota in health and disease, with a particular focus on intestinal inflammation, carcinogenesis and neuro-inflammation.

Research Interests

Environmental factors-mediated modulation of the intestinal microbiota
We are highly interested in studying some environmental factors that can alter the intestinal microbiota. We have previously reported that emulsifiers, highly used by the food industry, are able to detrimentally alter the intestinal microbiota, characterized by an increased ability to penetrate the normally protective mucus layer and an increase in pro-inflammatory potential. We reported that the consumption of emulsifying agents is sufficient to induce intestinal inflammation that will manifest as chronic colitis in genetically susceptible hosts. Moreover, in unimpaired hosts, such food additives are inducing the development of metabolic syndrome characterized by diabetes and an increase in body weight, as well as by an increased susceptibility to colonic carcinogenesis.

Our ongoing research on this area is focusing on the mechanisms beyond such observations:
- how dietary emulsifiers are able to directly impact the intestinal microbiota?
- how the altered microbiota will subsequently drive deleterious phenotypes?

Innate immunity / microbiota relationship in health and disease
We have studied for many years how the host is controlling the intestinal microbiota in order to keep it under control and at a proper/safe distance from the intestinal mucosa. We have, for example, demonstrated that the flagellin receptor TLR5 is playing a central role in keeping the intestinal microbiota under control. Animals lacking the TLR5 receptor develop intestinal inflammation that can manifest with the development of chronic colitis or metabolic syndrome. In the liver, we have recently demonstrated that TLR5 is playing an important protective role during western-style diet consumption.

Our current research is focusing on:
- characterizing the microbiota members driving intestinal inflammation
- identifying some therapeutic approaches to beneficially alter the intestinal microbiota

The gut brain axis: a dietary point of view
We are developing our research toward the gut and brain axis in order to understand how alterations of the intestinal microbiota by dietary components can be detrimental for the brain and behavior. Our preliminary data support a central role played by the microbiota on anxiety-related behavior.

We are now trying to:
- better characterize the consequences of an altered microbiota on behavior
- how diet-induced alterations of the intestinal microbiota can lead to neuro-inflammation
- what are the molecular mechanisms connecting the altered microbial community and the associated altered behaviors?

Modulation of the intestinal microbiota using pre and probiotics approach
While our research is mainly focusing on detrimental impacts of the microbiota, our expertise in this field of research, our data set of identified detrimental bacteria and metabolites, as well as the numerous animal models available in the laboratory, lead us to work on the development of tools aiming to beneficially alter the intestinal microbiota.

Among other approaches, we are:
- using dietary factor to modulate the microbiota and prevent its deleterious effects
- using probiotics to beneficially modulate the host/microbiota relationship
- using approaches to in vivo modulate bacterial gene expression in order protect against intestinal inflammation and neuro-inflammation