Sophia Schönherr-Hellec

Sophia Schönherr-Hellec is a post-doctoral researcher at the Necker-Enfants Malades Institute. She received her PhD in Microbiology from Paris Descartes University, France, in 2017. During her PhD she performed a comparative analysis of the characteristics of clinical strains of Clostiridum neonatale and Clostridium butyricum isolated from premature neonates with or without necrotizing enterocloitis and reported for the first time a specific bacterial signature potentially linked with this intestinal disease. Sophia joined the Neisseria meningitidis team in 2018 and studies the interaction between N. meningitidis and human endothelial cells under the supervision of Mathieu Coureuil.


Last News of the Lab

New commers in the Lab

01/10/2024. We are delighted to welcome three new members: Lison Reboul for a thesis with Emmanuelle Bille on phage biologyRomina ...

Trends Microbiology – Microbe of the Month – Neisseria meningitidis

01/01/2025. Neisseria meningitidis. Emmanuelle Bille, Alexandra Schubert-Unkmeir and Mathieu Coureuil, Trends Microbiology 2025 ...

Grant ANR PRC

24/07/2024. Mathieu Coureuil was granted ANR PRC for two project as coordinator with Sandine Bourdoulous, Anne Sophie Armand and Jean ...

Expanding the genetic toolbox for Neisseria meningitidis

14/08/2024. Expanding the genetic toolbox for Neisseria meningitidis with efficient tools for unmarked gene editing, complementation, and labelingMorgane Wuckelt et al Applied ...


Last Publications

  1. Schönherr-Hellec, S, Chatzopoulou, E, Barnier, JP, Atlas, Y, Dupichaud, S, Guilbert, T et al.. Implantation of engineered human microvasculature to study human infectious diseases in mouse models. iScience. 2023;26 (4):106286. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106286. PubMed PMID:36942053 PubMed Central PMC10024136.
  2. Barnier, JP, Meyer, J, Kolappan, S, Bouzinba-Ségard, H, Gesbert, G, Jamet, A et al.. The minor pilin PilV provides a conserved adhesion site throughout the antigenically variable meningococcal type IV pilus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021;118 (45):. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2109364118. PubMed PMID:34725157 PubMed Central PMC8609321.
  3. Barnier, JP, Euphrasie, D, Join-Lambert, O, Audry, M, Schonherr-Hellec, S, Schmitt, T et al.. Type IV pilus retraction enables sustained bacteremia and plays a key role in the outcome of meningococcal sepsis in a humanized mouse model. PLoS Pathog. 2021;17 (2):e1009299. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009299. PubMed PMID:33592056 PubMed Central PMC7909687.
  4. Audry, M, Robbe-Masselot, C, Barnier, JP, Gachet, B, Saubaméa, B, Schmitt, A et al.. Airway Mucus Restricts Neisseria meningitidis Away from Nasopharyngeal Epithelial Cells and Protects the Mucosa from Inflammation. mSphere. 2019;4 (6):. doi: 10.1128/mSphere.00494-19. PubMed PMID:31801841 PubMed Central PMC6893211.
  5. Schönherr-Hellec, S, Aires, J. Clostridia and necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm neonates. Anaerobe. 2019;58 :6-12. doi: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2019.04.005. PubMed PMID:30980889 .
  6. Schönherr-Hellec, S, Klein, GL, Delannoy, J, Ferraris, L, Rozé, JC, Butel, MJ et al.. Clostridial Strain-Specific Characteristics Associated with Necrotizing Enterocolitis. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2018;84 (7):. doi: 10.1128/AEM.02428-17. PubMed PMID:29352082 PubMed Central PMC5861827.
  7. Schönherr-Hellec, S, Klein, G, Delannoy, J, Ferraris, L, Friedel, I, Rozé, JC et al.. Comparative phenotypic analysis of "Clostridium neonatale" and Clostridium butyricum isolates from neonates. Anaerobe. 2017;48 :76-82. doi: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2017.07.002. PubMed PMID:28739338 .
  8. Landreau, M, Duthoit, F, Roussel, E, Schönherr, S, Georges, M, Godfroy, A et al.. Cultivation of an immobilized (hyper)thermophilic marine microbial community in a bioreactor. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2016;363 (17):. doi: 10.1093/femsle/fnw194. PubMed PMID:27528693 .
  9. Ferraris, L, Schönherr, S, Bouvet, P, Dauphin, B, Popoff, M, Butel, MJ et al.. One-Step Multiplex PCR Assay for Differentiating Proposed New Species "Clostridium neonatale" from Closely Related Species. J Clin Microbiol. 2015;53 (11):3621-3. doi: 10.1128/JCM.01404-15. PubMed PMID:26292306 PubMed Central PMC4609713.
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