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Bilde av Hanssen, Anne-Merethe
Bilde av Hanssen, Anne-Merethe
Associate professor Department of Medical Biology anne-merethe.hanssen@uit.no +4777660749 +47 90507486 You can find me here

Anne-Merethe Hanssen

Job description

Anne-Merethe Hanssen (PhD) is associate professor in microbiology at Department for Medical Biology (IMB) in Research group Host-Microbe Interactions (HMI). Her research includes studies of host-microbe interactions, and the main focus is on bacterial colonization, virulence and pathogenesis. 

Hanssen investigates what factors the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus expresses when it colonizes the throat, and she uses e.g. transcriptomics for identifying which genes the bacterium expresses when it meets the host. The identified bacterial determinants are further  analysed based on properties such as adhesion, invasion, and immune evasion. The goal is to develop therapeutic and diagnostic strategies to prevent colonization and treat bacterial infection. 

Hanssen is teaching in medical microbiology at the bachelor programme in biomedical laboratory sciences, and she has been teaching unit leader in biomedical laboratory science at department for medical biology in the period 2018-2024. 

  • Srijana Bastakoti, Maiju Pesonen, Clément Ajayi, Kjersti Julin, Jukka Corander, Mona Susan Johannessen et al.:
    Co-culturing with Streptococcus anginosus alters Staphylococcus aureus transcriptome when exposed to tonsillar cells
    Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology 2024 ARKIV / DOI
  • Srijana Bastakoti, Clement Ajayi, Kjersti Julin, Mona Johannessen, Anne Merethe Hanssen :
    Exploring differentially expressed genes of Staphylococcus aureus exposed to human tonsillar cells using RNA sequencing
    BMC Microbiology 2023 ARKIV / DOI
  • Dina Benedicte Berg Stensen, Rafael Nozal Cañadas, Lars Småbrekke, Karina Olsen, Christopher Sivert Nielsen, Kristian Svendsen et al.:
    Social network analysis of Staphylococcus aureus carriage in a general youth population
    International Journal of Infectious Diseases 2022 ARKIV / FULLTEKST / DOI
  • Adriana Maria Sanabria-Moreno, Jessin Janice James Peter, Erik Hjerde, Gunnar Skov Simonsen, Anne Merethe Hanssen :
    Shotgun-metagenomics based prediction of antibiotic resistance and virulence determinants in Staphylococcus aureus from periprosthetic tissue on blood culture bottles
    Scientific Reports 2021 ARKIV / DOI
  • Adriana Maria Sanabria-Moreno, Erik Hjerde, Mona Johannessen, Johanna U Ericson Sollid, Gunnar Skov Simonsen, Anne Merethe Hanssen :
    Shotgun-Metagenomics on Positive Blood Culture Bottles Inoculated With Prosthetic Joint Tissue: A Proof of Concept Study
    Frontiers in Microbiology 2020 ARKIV / DOI
  • Adriana Maria Sanabria-Moreno, Merethe E.O. Røkeberg, Mona Johannessen, Johanna U Ericson Sollid, Gunnar Skov Simonsen, Anne Merethe Hanssen :
    Culturing periprosthetic tissue in BacT/Alert® Virtuo blood culture system leads to improved and faster detection of prosthetic joint infections
    BMC Infectious Diseases 2019 ARKIV / DOI
  • Clement Ajayi, espen Åberg, Fatemeh Askarian, Johanna U Ericson Sollid, Mona Johannessen, Anne Merethe Hanssen :
    Genetic variability in the sdrD gene in Staphylococcus aureus from healthy nasal carriers.
    BMC Microbiology 16. April 2018 ARKIV / DOI
  • Anne-Merethe Hanssen, Bert Kindlund, Niels Christian Stenklev, Anne-Sofie Furberg, Silje Fismen, Renate Slind Olsen et al.:
    Localization of Staphylococcus aureus in tissue from the nasal vestibule in healthy carriers
    BMC Microbiology 2017 ARKIV / DOI
  • Torsten Semmler, Evan M Harrison, Antina Lübke-Becker, Rainer G Ulrich, Lothar H Wieler, Sebastian Guenther et al.:
    A look into the melting pot: The mecC-harboring region is a recombination hot spot in Staphylococcus stepanovicii
    PLOS ONE 2016 ARKIV / DOI
  • Fatemeh Askarian, Clement Ajayi, Anne-Merethe Hanssen, Nina M. Van Sorge, ingvild Pettersen, Dzung Bao Diep et al.:
    The interaction between Staphylococcus aureus SdrD and desmoglein 1 is important for adhesion to host cells
    Scientific Reports 2016 ARKIV / DOI
  • Fatemeh Askarian, Maria Sangvik, Anne-Merethe Hanssen, Lars Snipen, Johanna U. Ericson Sollid, Mona Johannessen :
    Staphylococcus aureus nasal isolates from healthy individuals cause highly variable host cell responses in vitro: The Tromsø Staph and Skin Study
    Pathogens and Disease 2014 DOI
  • Johanna U. Ericson Sollid, Anne-Sofie Furberg, Anne-Merethe Hanssen, Mona Johannessen :
    Staphylococcus aureus: Determinants of human carriage
    Infection, Genetics and Evolution 2014 DOI
  • Jorunn Pauline Cavanagh, Claus Klingenberg, Anne-Merethe Hanssen, Elizabeth Aarag, Patrice Francois, Jaques Schrenzel et al.:
    Core genome conservation of Staphylococcus haemolyticus limits sequence based population structure analysis
    Journal of Microbiological Methods 2012 ARKIV / DOI
  • Mona Johannessen, Johanna U Ericson Sollid, Anne-Merethe Hanssen :
    Host and microbe determinants that may influence the success of S. aureus colonization
    Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology 2012 ARKIV / DOI
  • Bjørg C Haldorsen, Bettina Aasnaes, Kristin Hegstad Dahl, Anne-Merethe Hanssen, Gunnar Skov Simonsen, Timothy R Walsh et al.:
    The AmpC phenotype in Norwegian clinical isolates of Escherichia coli is associated with an acquired ISEcp1-like ampC element or hyperproduction of the endogenous AmpC
    Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2008 DOI
  • B. Walther, L. H. Wieler, A. W. Friedrich, Anne-Merethe Hanssen, B. Kohn, L. Brunnberg et al.:
    Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from small and exotic animals at a university hospital during routine microbiological examinations
    Veterinary Microbiology 2008 DOI
  • Veronika Vorobieva, T Bazhukova, AM Hanssen, Dominique A Caugant, N Semenova, Bjørg C Haldorsen et al.:
    Clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus from the Arkhangelsk region, Russia: antimicrobial susceptibility, molecular epidemiology, and distribution of Panton-Valentine leucocidin genes
    APMIS - Journal of Pathologiy, Microbiology and Immunology 2008 DOI
  • Anne-Merethe Hanssen, johanna u ericson Sollid :
    Multiple Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosomes and Allelic Variants of Cassette Chromosome Recombinases in Staphylococcus aureus and Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci from Norway
    Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 2007 DOI
  • Anne Merethe Hanssen, Johanna U Ericson Sollid :
    SCCmec in staphylococci: genes on the move
    FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology 2006
  • Anne-Merethe Hanssen, Aina Elisabeth Fossum, Jarle Mikalsen, Dag Seeger Halvorsen, Geir Bukholm, Johanna U Ericson Sollid :
    Dissemination of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clones in northern Norway: Sequence types 8 and 80 predominate
    Journal of Clinical Microbiology 2005 DOI
  • Dina Benedicte Berg Stensen, Lars Ailo Bongo, Karina Olsen, Anne Merethe Hanssen :
    Social network analysis of Staphylococcus aureus carriage in a general youth population
    2003 DOI
  • Srijana Bastakoti, maiju Pesonen, Clément Ajayi, Kjersti Julin, Mona Susan Johannessen, Jukka Corander et al.:
    Co-culturing with Streptococcus anginosus alters Staphylococcus aureus transcriptome when exposed to tonsillar cells
    2023
  • Anne-Merethe Christiansen Hanssen, Clément Ajayi, Mona Susan Johannessen, Kjersti Julin, Maiju Pesonen, Jukka Corander et al.:
    Co-culturing with Streptococcus anginosus alters Staphylococcus aureus transcriptome when exposed to tonsillar cells
    2023
  • Srijana Bastakoti, Maiju Pesonen, Clément Ajayi, Kjersti Julin, Jukka Corander, Mona Susan Johannessen et al.:
    Co-culturing with Streptococcus anginosus alters Staphylococcus aureus transcriptome when exposed to tonsillar cells
    2023
  • Srijana Bastakoti, Maiju Pesonen, Clément Ajayi, Kjersti Julin, Jukka Corander, Mona Susan Johannessen et al.:
    Co-culturing with Streptococcus anginosus alters Staphylococcus aureus transcriptome when exposed to tonsillar cells
    2023
  • Srijana Bastakoti, Anne-Merethe Christiansen Hanssen :
    Staphylococcus aureus in the throat
    2022
  • Srijana Bastakoti, Clément Ajayi, Kjersti Julin, Mona Susan Johannessen, Anne-Merethe Christiansen Hanssen :
    Exploring differentially expressed genes of Staphylococcus aureus exposed to human tonsillar cells using RNA sequencing
    2022
  • Dina Benedicte Berg Stensen, Rafael A. Nozal Cañadas, Lars Småbrekke, Karina Olsen, Christopher Sivert Nielsen, Kristian Svendsen et al.:
    Social network analysis of Staphylococcus aureus carriage in a general youth population
    2021
  • Srijana Bastakoti, Clement Ajayi, Mona Johannessen, Anne Merethe Hanssen :
    Identification of key determinants for S. aureus throat colonization: A transcriptomic approach
    2020
  • Adriana Maria Sanabria-Moreno, Gunnar Skov Simonsen, Johanna U Ericson Sollid, Mona Johannessen, Anne Merethe Hanssen, Erik Hjerde :
    Metagenomics on prosthetic joint tissue samples inoculated in blood culture bottles
    2019
  • Adriana Maria Sanabria-Moreno, Gunnar Skov Simonsen, Mona Johannessen, Johanna U Ericson Sollid, Erik Hjerde, Anne Merethe Hanssen :
    Metagenomics on prosthetic joint tissue samples inoculated in blood culture bottles: a proof of concept study
    2019
  • Adriana Maria Sanabria, Mona Johannessen, Johanna U Ericson Sollid, Gunnar Skov Simonsen, Anne-Merethe Hanssen :
    Periprosthetic Joint Tissues in Blood Culture Bottles: Evaluation of a New Culturing System.
    2017
  • Clement Ajayi, espen Åberg, Fatemeh Askarian, Johanna U Ericson Sollid, Mona Johannessen, Anne-Merethe Hanssen :
    Genetic variability in the sdrD gene in Staphylococcus aureus from healthy nasal carriers
    2017
  • Adriana Maria Sanabria-Moreno, Gunnar Skov Simonsen, Anne Merethe Hanssen, Mona Johannessen, Johanna U Ericson Sollid :
    Detection of Prosthetic Joint Infections Using Blood Culture Bottles
    2017
  • Fatemeh Askarian, Maria Sangvik, Anne-Sofie Furberg, Anne-Merethe Hanssen, Johanna U Ericson Sollid, Mona Johannessen :
    TIR-containing protein in Staphylococcus aureus: a new strategy for immune evasion? The Tromsø Staph and Skin Study (TSSS)
    2012
  • Bjørg Haldorsen, Bettina Aasnæs, Kristin Hegstad, Anne-Merethe Hanssen, Gunnar Skov Simonsen, Timothy R Walsh et al.:
    AmpC b-lactamases in Norwegian clinical isolates of E. coli
    2009
  • B. Walther, L. H. Wieler, A. W. Friedrich, Anne-Merethe Hanssen, B. Kohn, L. Brunnberg et al.:
    Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from small and exotic animals at a university hospital during routine veterinary microbiological examinations
    Veterinary Microbiology 2008
  • Karsten Arends, Anne-Merethe Hanssen, Yaser Mohammad Abajy, Anna Wolozyk, Sonja Schernke, Katarzyna Schiwon et al.:
    A simplified type IV secretion like system from Gram-positive bacteria: Intracellular localization of transfer proteins using cell fractionation and immunogold transmission electron microscopy
    2008
  • Karsten Arends, Anne-Merethe Hanssen, Yaser mohammad Abajy, Ertugrul-kaan Celik, Sonja Shernke, Katarzyna Schiwon et al.:
    A simplified type IV secretion like system (T4SLS) from Gram positive bacteria: intracellular localization of transfer proteins using cell fractionation and immunogold transmissionelectron microscopy
    2008
  • Yaser mohammad Abajy, Saleh Malik, Anne-Merethe Hanssen, Karsten Arends, Elisabeth Grohmann, Walter Keller :
    The conjugative plasmid pIP501 from Streptococcus agalactiaeencodes a putative type IV secretion-like coupling protein ORF10 with ATPase activity
    2008
  • Anne-Merethe Hanssen :
    Type-IV like secretion in Gram-positive bacteria
    2007
  • Anne-Merethe Hanssen :
    Horizontal gene transfer and type IV secretion systems
    2007
  • Anne-Merethe Hanssen :
    SCCmec in staphylococci: genes on the move
    2006
  • Bjørg Haldorsen, Eirik W Lundblad, bettina AasnÆs, Kristin Hegstad Dahl, Anne-Merethe Hanssen, Gunnar Skov Simonsen et al.:
    Evaluation of an AmpC disk test and genetic detection of imported ampC-genes in Norwegian clinical strains of E. coli
    2006
  • Joachim Karlsen, johanna u ericson Sollid, Anne-Merethe Hanssen :
    Validation of modified multiplex Real-Time PCR detection of MRSA SCCmec types I-V
    2006
  • Anne-Merethe Hanssen :
    SCCmec in staphylococci: a genetic portrait of genes on the move
    2005
  • johanna u ericson Sollid, Stein Christian Mohn, Anne Merethe Hanssen, Eva katrin Bjørkeng, J. Pauline Cavanagh, trine juliane Tessem et al.:
    Horizontal transfer of housekeeping genes by large chromosomal elements in Enterococcus faecium
    2005

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    Research interests

    • Host-microbe interaction
    • Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA
    • S. aureus colonization and infection 
    • Antimicrobial resistance
    • 'Omics - metagenomics and transcriptomics
    • Diagnostics in clinical microbiology
    • Microbiome in nose and throat

     

    Research project: 

    “Identification of key determinants for Staphylococcus aureus throat colonization: a transcriptomic approach”

    Staphylococcus aureus colonization is a risk factor for infection. Prevention and elimination of the S. aureus colonization carrier state may contribute to reduce the S. aureus infection burden and prevent the spread of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA).

    A better understanding of S. aureus throat colonization in its natural human niche together with other competing/coexisting microbes may give insight into S. aureus adaptation to the human throat and recurrence of infection.

    Our project explores the host-microbe interaction to find new targets involved in S. aureus throat colonization, and it paves the way for new approaches to control unwanted colonization and infection.

    We have recently identified differentially expressed key determinants in S. aureus in the presence of primary human tonsillar epithelial cells using RNA sequencing and pathway analysis. Now, we are investigating bacterial virulence factors exhibited during co-culturing with other throat bacteria in presence/absence of host, including identification of potential differentially expressed bacterial genes, using a transcriptomic approach. 

    Our study is relevant for those working on S. aureus colonization, infection, virulence factors and eradication of e.g. MRSA. In the long term, the project can lead to solutions in the healthcare system that meet the expectations of both patient and health care worker for new methods of treatment and prevention of reoccurrence of S. aureus colonization.

      (https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-023-02919-5;  https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3252967/v1) 

     

    Member in other projects: 

    Teaching

    MBI-2104 Medical microbiology, course leader (15 ECT)

    MBI-2108 Bachelor thesis (13 ECT)

    HEL-0700 Samhandling, etikk og grunnleggende akademiske ferdigheter i helse- og sosialfag (10 ECT)

     

    Previous teaching: 

    MBI-1105 Basic biochemistry (10 ECT)
    MBI-2101 Molecular biology (14 ECT)
    MBI-2103 Immunology and transfusion medicine (15 ECT)
    MBI-2110 Profesjon, etikk og samhandling (6 ECT)

    BIO-340/BIO-3134 Applied molecular microbiology

    BIO-351 Microbial and molecular genetics

    BIO-360 Medical microbiology

    FA-231 Farmaceutical microbiology

    MBI-8001 PhD course in research school Infection, Inflammation, and Immunity

    Teaching unit leader in biomedical laboratory science at department for medical biology (IMB) 2018-2024. 

    In addition I supervise/have supervised students at all levels (bachelor-, master- and PhD). 

    Researcher profile in Cristin

    Member of research group

    Host-Microbe Interaction   English content