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
Vulgarisation scientifique @MicroCros
10/03/2026 Les bactéries manipulent nos cellules grâce à la physique Audrey Laurent Granger Les bactéries sont partout, y compris à ...
The MDA promotes bacterial colonisation by selecting hyperadhesive pili variants
20/12/2025 Neisseria meningitidis filamentous phage MDA promotes colonisation by selecting hyperadhesive pili variants Clémence Mouville, Antoine Brizard, Morgane Wuckelt, Mélanie Montabord, Hervé Lécuyer, Julie Meyer, Anne ...
Meningococci reshape host membranes to recruit their own signaling receptors
05/12/2025. Meningococci drive host membrane tubulation to recruit their signaling receptors Audrey Laurent-Granger, Kévin Sollier, Bruno Saubamea, Virginie Mignon, Nicolas ...
Newcomers in the Lab
01/10/2025. It's time to welcome Five new lab members: Anne-Aurélie Lopes, MD, PhD, HDR. Anne Aurélie join the lab and ...
Last Publications
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 .
- 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.
- 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 .
- 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 .
- 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.