Pascale Cossart (born 21 March 1948) is a French

bacteriologist A bacteriologist is a microbiologist, or similarly trained professional, in bacteriology— a subdivision of microbiology that studies bacteria, typically Pathogenic bacteria, pathogenic ones. Bacteriologists are interested in studying and learnin ...

who is affiliated with the Pasteur Institute of Paris. She is the foremost authority on ''

Listeria monocytogenes ''Listeria monocytogenes'' is the species of pathogenic bacteria that causes the infection listeriosis. It is a facultative anaerobic bacterium, capable of surviving in the presence or absence of oxygen. It can grow and reproduce inside the ho ...

'', a deadly and common food-borne

pathogen In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a Germ theory of d ...

responsible for

encephalitis Encephalitis is inflammation of the Human brain, brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, aphasia, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include se ...

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...

bacteremia Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are infections of blood caused by blood-borne pathogens. The detection of microbes in the blood (most commonly accomplished by blood cultures) is always abnormal. A bloodstream infection is different from sepsis, wh ...

gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea, is an inflammation of the Human gastrointestinal tract, gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of ...

, and other diseases.

Biography

Cossart was born in the north of France in 1948. She grew up and attended school in

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

. Cossart earned a B.S. and M.S. from Lille University in 1968. She then earned an M.S. in chemistry from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

in 1971, and her Ph.D. in

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

at the Pasteur Institute and the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

in 1977 (

University Paris Diderot Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 1970. Paris Diderot merged with Paris ...

). She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (, ) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax and rabies. Th ...

. She is currently a Professor and Head of the Unité des Interactions Bactéries Cellules at the Pasteur Institute. In 1998, she received the Richard Lounsbery Prize and the L'Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science. She was awarded the

Balzan Prize The International Balzan Prize Foundation awards four annual monetary prizes to people or organizations who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of humanities, natural sciences, culture, as well as for endeavours for peace and the b ...

for Infectious Diseases: Basic and Clinical Aspects in 2013.

Works

Cossart's research has focused on infection by

intracellular bacteria Intracellular bacteria are bacteria that have the capability to enter and survive within the cells of the host organism. These bacteria include many different pathogens that live in the cytoplasm and nuclei of the host cell's they inhabit. ''Myco ...

, and in particular the infectious agent ''

''. ''Listeria'' is a food-borne bacterial

responsible for numerous illnesses and a mortality rate of 30%. The bacteria is one of the best models of intracellular parasitism because it is particularly hardy, able to survive in a variety of cells, cross multiple host barriers, and spreads through

ActA Acta or ACTA may refer to: Institutions * Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, an intellectual property trade agreement * Administrative Council for Terminal Attachments, a standards organization for terminal equipment such as registered jacks * A ...

, the protein responsible for actin-based motility. Cossart's work has shed light on the genetic and biochemical processes that make ''Listeria'' so effective and lethal, identifying the '' bsh'' gene; regulatory mechanisms such as an

RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule that is essential for most biological functions, either by performing the function itself (non-coding RNA) or by forming a template for the production of proteins (messenger RNA). RNA and deoxyrib ...

thermosensor that control expression of the virulence genes such as bsh; and the ways in which ''Listeria'' enters cells and crosses physiological barriers such as the

blood–brain barrier The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a highly selective semipermeable membrane, semipermeable border of endothelium, endothelial cells that regulates the transfer of solutes and chemicals between the circulatory system and the central nervous system ...

, the intestinal barrier, and the

placental barrier The placenta (: placentas or placentae) is a temporary embryo, embryonic and later Fetus, fetal organ (biology), organ that begins embryonic development, developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation (embryology), implantation. It pl ...

. The discovery by Cossart's lab of the interaction between ''L. monocytogenes protein, internalin, and its cell receptor,

E-cadherin Cadherin-1 or Epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''CDH1'' gene (not to be confused with the APC/C activator protein CDH1). Mutations are correlated with Hereditary diffuse gastric cancer, gastric, Here ...

, was the first such study that successfully demonstrated the molecular mechanism that permits a bacterial agent to cross the placental barrier. In 2009 Cossart published what she describes as the first "bacterial

operon In genetics, an operon is a functioning unit of DNA containing a cluster of genes under the control of a single promoter. The genes are transcribed together into an mRNA strand and either translated together in the cytoplasm, or undergo splic ...

map"—the transcriptional program that regulates Listeria's behavior in different environmental conditions. By comparing the sequences of Listeria drawn from soil and drawn from the human gut, Cossart identified

non-coding RNA A non-coding RNA (ncRNA) is a functional RNA molecule that is not Translation (genetics), translated into a protein. The DNA sequence from which a functional non-coding RNA is transcribed is often called an RNA gene. Abundant and functionally imp ...

s that contribute to Listeria's virulence, identified additional RNA

repressor In molecular genetics, a repressor is a DNA- or RNA-binding protein that inhibits the expression of one or more genes by binding to the operator or associated silencers. A DNA-binding repressor blocks the attachment of RNA polymerase to the ...

s, and determined that

riboswitch In molecular biology, a riboswitch is a regulatory segment of a messenger RNA molecule that binds a small molecule, resulting in a change in Translation (biology), production of the proteins encoded by the mRNA. Thus, an mRNA that contains a ribo ...

es can act both downstream and upstream. As part of her work she has also developed important biological tools, including a

transgenic A transgene is a gene that has been transferred naturally, or by any of a number of genetic engineering techniques, from one organism to another. The introduction of a transgene, in a process known as transgenesis, has the potential to change the ...

mouse that was the first animal model to overcome bacterial species-specificity. The mouse carried a human version of a host cell membrane receptor that ''L. monocytogenes'' used to enter cells.

Significant publications

* * *

Awards, prizes, and honorary lectures

* Carlos J. Finlay Prize for Microbiology (1995) * Louis Rapkine Medal (1997) *

Richard Lounsbery Award The Richard Lounsbery Award is given to American and French scientists, 45 years or younger, in recognition of "extraordinary scientific achievement in biology and medicine." The Award alternates between French and American scientists, and is a ...

(1998) * Helena Rubenstein / UNESCO Award for Women in Science Leadership (1998) *Corresponding member,

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

(1999) *Nestle Prize "L’homme et sa nutrition", (2000) *

Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist, pharmacist, and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, Fermentation, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization, the la ...

Gold Medal, Swedish Society of Medicine, (2000) *Howard Hughes Medical Institute, International Research Scholar, 2000–2005, 2005–2011, 2012–2017 *Member,

German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (), in short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded on 1 January 1652, based on academic models in Italy, it was originally named the ''Academi ...

(2001) * Valade Prize,

Fondation de France The Fondation de France ("Foundation of France") is an independent private organisation, recognised as being in the public interest, and created at the instigation of Charles de Gaulle and André Malraux in an effort to stimulate and foster the g ...

(2003) * Margaret Pittman Lecture,

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

(2003) *Member,

American Academy of Microbiology American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

(2004) *

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...

International Member of the Year Award (2007) *

Descartes Prize The Descartes Prize was an annual award in science given by the European Union, named in honour of the French mathematician and philosopher, René Descartes. The prizes recognized Outstanding Scientific and Technological Achievements Resulting f ...

(2007) * ERC Advanced Grant Award (2008) *Member of the European Academy of Microbiology, (2009) * President, Conseil Scientifique of the

* Member, French Conseil National de la Science *

Robert Koch Prize The Robert Koch Medal and Award are two prizes awarded annually by the German for excellence in the biomedical sciences. These awards grew out of early attempts by German physician Robert Koch to generate funding to support his research into the ...

(2007) *

Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine Established in 1986, the Louis-Jeantet Prizes are funded by the Louis-Jeantet Foundation, ''Fondation Louis-Jeantet'' and awarded each year to experienced researchers who have distinguished themselves in the field of biomedical research in one ...

(2008)Louis-Jeantet Prize
/ref> *René DESCARTES Prize (2008) for collaborative transnational research, Brussels, (2008) *ERC Advanced Grant Award (2008–2014)(2015–2019) * Foreign member,

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

of London (2010) *Robert Koch Medal of the Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany, (2010) *Van Deenen Medal of the Institute of Biomembranes, Utrecht, The Nertherlands, (2011) *Helmotz International Fellow Award, Berlin, Germany, (2013) *

(2013) *H.P.R. Seeliger Award, Wurzburg, Germany (2013) *Foreign Member of the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

(NAM), USA (2014) *

FEBS The Federation of the European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) is an international scientific society promoting activities in biochemistry, molecular biology and related research areas in Europe and neighbouring regions. It was founded in 1964 and inc ...

EMBO Embo or EMBO may refer to: *Embo, Taguig, a grouping of barangays in Taguig, Philippines * Embo (''Star Wars''), a ''Star Wars'' fictional character *Embo S.p.A., an Italian automotive manufacturer *Embo, Sutherland, a village in Highland, Scotland ...

Women in Science Award (2014)^{/sup>
*Jürgen Manchot-Guest Professorship 2014, Düsseldorf, Germany, (2014)
*Doctor ''honoris causa'' of the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, (2015)
*Associated member of the Académie Nationale de Pharmacie, Paris (2016)
* Ernst Jung Gold Medal for Medicine from the Jung Foundation (2017)
*Prix René et Andrée Duquesne, Paris, France, (2018)
*Heinrich Wieland Prize The Heinrich Wieland Prize is awarded annually by the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation for outstanding research on biologically active molecules and systems in the areas of chemistry, biochemistry and physiology as well as their clinical importance ...
, Munich, Germany, (2018)
* FEMS

Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) is an international European scientific organization, formed by the union of a number of national organizations; there are now 57 members from 41 European countries, regular and provisional. ...
Lwoff Award (2019)
*Honorary Doctorate, Karolinska Institute

The Karolinska Institute (KI; ; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden and one of the foremost medical research institutes globally ...
, Stockholm, (2020)
*Selman A. Waksman Award in Microbiology, NAS (2021), National Academy of Science, Washington, USA (to be announced)
*Grand officier of the Legion of Honor

The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...
in 2020 (commandeur in 2013, officier in 2007).
*Commandeur of the Ordre national du Mérite

The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...
in 2010.

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cossart, Pascale
1948 births
Living people
French microbiologists
21st-century French biologists
L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science laureates
Richard-Lounsbery Award laureates
21st-century American women scientists
Howard Hughes Medical Investigators
Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences alumni
French women biologists
Women microbiologists
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
Officers of the Legion of Honour
Foreign members of the Royal Society
Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite
Pasteur Institute
Members of the National Academy of Medicine
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina}