Gianluca GRENCI
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore
Facility Manager, Nano and Microfabrication Core
mbigg@nus.edu.sg
Level 10 T-Lab
National University of Singapore
5A Engineering Drive 1
Singapore 117411
Seeking Research Assistant in Cell Mechanics and Mechanobiology at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking a Research Assistant in Cell Mechanics and Mechanobiology in the lab of Prof. Lim Chwee Teck at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS.
Seeking Research Assistant in the labs of Dr. Natalie Dye and Dr. Alphée Michelot at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking a Research Assistant to join the labs of Dr. Natalie Dye and Dr. Alphée Michelot at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS.
Seeking Research Fellow in the lab of Prof. Rong Li at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking a Research Fellow to join the lab of Prof. Rong Li at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
Seeking Research Fellow in the lab of Dr. Anne Beghin at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
We are seeking a Research Fellow to join the lab of Dr. Anne Beghin at the Mechanobiology Institute, NUS
Seeking Scientific Communicator at the Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore
The Mechanobiology Institute (MBI), National University of Singapore (NUS), seeks to recruit a Scientific Communicator.
Melvino Sin
Senior Laboratory Executive, SIMBA
Gianluca Grenci
Research Assistant Professor, Facility Manager
Research Interests
Microfluidics, Micro-optical systems for live cell imaging
Our laboratory is primarily interested in the application of micro/nano fabrication technology to biological science. We exploit standard and advanced micro-fabrication tools in order to design and produce systems and devices for cell culturing and imaging. Examples of such devices are: topographically and/or chemically micro-textured environments, microfluidic devices, micro-optical systems and more.
We are also interested in developing microfluidic devices for FTIR spectromicroscopy of living cells. FTIR is an imaging technique that is intrinsically label-free and requires minimal sample preparation; when coupled with microscopy and high brilliance IR sources it allows the acquisition of chemical maps at a resolution which is diffraction limited. Absorption of IR photons induces very low or no damage at all, therefore it is in principle possible to observe for prolonged time the behaviour of living cells. Our research activity is intended to develope microfludic platforms suitable for FTIR (key parameters are optical transparency and low IR absorption) while keeping cells alive and healthy; a beneficial feature provided by micro-fabrication approach is the possibility to control of the chemical environment at the micro-scale.
Research Areas
Micro/nano engineering, microfluidic, FTIR
Biography
Dr Gianluca Grenci joined MBI in 2012 as a research fellow and head of the Micro Fabrication Core facility. Previously he was employed at the LILIT micro/nano fabrication group (IOM-CNR, Trieste, IT) for a total of 6 years, during which he was mainly involved in the design and fabrication of microfluidic devices for synchrotron-light related spectroscopic techniques, such as SAXS and FTIR. He thus developed extensive practical knowledge on all the major lithographic technologies (UV and EB lithography, wet/dry etching, soft-lithography, thin films deposition), plus some less usual and/or more advanced technique, such as X-ray Lithography and LIGA.
He did his PhD in the field of applied superconductivity, in a project aimed to develop a current cryo-comparator (CCC) using high critical temperature superconductors of the cuprate family (YBCO) in the form of a thick film deposited onto a large area, complex shaped silver substrate.
Education
PhD Polytechnic of Torino, DISPEA
Recent Publications
- Zhang Z, Canela A, Kurisu J, Zou P, Kawaue T, Nakazawa N, Takeda N, Saeki M, Utsunomiya M, Bilgic M, Ishidate F, Grenci G, Furuta T, Kishi Y, Sasanuma H, and Kengaku M. Confined migration induces non-lethal DNA damage in developing neurons. Nature 2026;. [PMID: 42310452]
- Gandin A, Torresan V, Panciera T, Grenci G, Vanni G, Citron A, Marchionni M, Battilana G, Pelosin M, Busetto R, Piccolo S, and Brusatin G. Flexible high-resolution ECM micropatterning. Nat Protoc 2026;. [PMID: 42129485]
- Dunsing-Eichenauer V, Hummert J, Chardès C, Schönau T, Guignard L, Galland R, Grenci G, Tillmann M, Koberling F, Nock C, Sibarita J, Viasnoff V, Antolovic IM, Erdmann R, and Lenne P. Fast volumetric fluorescence lifetime imaging of multicellular systems using single-objective light-sheet microscopy. Commun Biol 2025;. [PMID: 41315677]
- Jiang X, Xu P, Feng F, Grenci G, and Saw TB. Revealing Electromechanical Control of Tissue Homeostasis Using a Two-Layer Microfluidic Device. J Vis Exp 2025;(223). [PMID: 41052031]
- Cabillic M, Forriere H, Bettarel L, Butler C, Neuhaus A, Idrissi I, Sambrano-Lopez ME, Rossbroich J, Müller L, Ries J, Grenci G, Viasnoff V, Levet F, Sibarita J, and Galland R. In-depth single molecule localization microscopy using adaptive optics and single objective light-sheet microscopy. Nat Commun 2025; 16(1):8362. [PMID: 40993142]
- Mu B, Rutkowski DM, Grenci G, Vavylonis D, and Zhang D. Ca2+-dependent vesicular and non-vesicular lipid transfer controls hypoosmotic plasma membrane expansion. BMC Biol 2025; 23(1):207. [PMID: 40629316]
- Ong HT, Karatas E, Poquillon T, Grenci G, Furlan A, Dilasser F, Mohamad Raffi SB, Blanc D, Drimaracci E, Mikec D, Galisot G, Johnson BA, Liu AZ, Thiel C, Ullrich O, , Racine V, and Beghin A. Digitalized organoids: integrated pipeline for high-speed 3D analysis of organoid structures using multilevel segmentation and cellular topology. Nat Methods 2025;. [PMID: 40369245]
- Arora A, Rizvi MS, Grenci G, Dilasser F, Fu C, Ganguly M, Vaishnavi S, Paramsivam K, Budnar S, Noordstra I, Yap AS, and Viasnoff V. Viscous dissipation in the rupture of cell-cell contacts. Nat Mater 2025;. [PMID: 40355570]
- Nakazawa N, Grenci G, Kameo Y, Takeda N, Sawada T, Kurisu J, Zhang Z, Toma K, Adachi T, Nonomura K, and Kengaku M. PIEZO1-dependent mode switch of neuronal migration in heterogeneous microenvironments in the developing brain. Cell Rep 2025; 44(3):115405. [PMID: 40053456]
- Suryana M, Produit T, Yang H, Birarda G, Shanmugar JV, Krivitsky L, Paterova A, and Grenci G. Infrared imaging with visible light in microfluidic devices: the water absorption barrier. Analyst 2024;. [PMID: 39692693]
Selected Publications
- Mona Suryana, Jegan V. Shanmugarajah, Sivakumar M. Maniam, Gianluca Grenci. Soft Lithographic Procedure for Producing Plastic Microfluidic Devices with View-ports Transparent to Visible and Infrared Light
- Mohammed Ashraf, Sree V. Sundararajan, Gianluca Grenci. Low-power, low-pressure reactive-ion etching process for silicon etching with vertical and smooth walls for mechanobiology application
Lab Members
What steps are involved in the myosin powerstroke?
What steps are involved in the myosin powerstroke? Each myosin motor protein possesses ATPase activity and functions in a cyclical manner that couples ATP binding and hydrolysis to a conformational change in the protein. [...]
Cytoskeleton Dynamics
Cytoskeleton Dynamics The cytoskeleton is a highly dynamic network of filamentous proteins that exists in the 3D space to link all regions and components of the cell. All cells, including bacteria, have a cytoskeleton [...]
Membrane Dynamics
What are cell membranes? What are the physiological functions of biological membranes? Eukaryotic cells and their organelles are enveloped by viscoelastic layers made of lipids and proteins. These layers are generally referred to as [...]
What are cytoskeletal cages?
What are cytoskeletal cages? Cytoskeletal components can assemble into cage-like structures within the cell. These cages serve to segregate intracellular regions or organelles, and can protect their contents from mechanical stress. At the level [...]
What is Myosin Light Chain Kinase?
What is Myosin Light Chain Kinase? Myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) is a calcium/calmodulin-dependent serine/threonine kinase, belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily. It phosphorylates the regulatory myosin light chains of myosin II, in order to [...]
How do lipid bilayer components move?
How do lipid bilayer components move? One of the tenets of the Fluid-Mosaic membrane model is that the components of the bilayers are free to move. Before describing the differences between lipid and protein [...]
How do mechanically-gated ion channels facilitate mechanotransduction?
How do mechanically-gated ion channels facilitate mechanotransduction? Mechanotransduction relies on the ability of cells to convert mechanical cues, such as stretch or compression, to biochemical signals. One way this occurs is through the activity [...]
What is the plasma membrane?
What is the plasma membrane? Plasma membranes are subcellular structures, approximately 10nm thick, that form a protective boundary around the cell as well as the cell’s organelles. They serve to both impede foreign material [...]
How does the clathrin-coated vesicle neck narrow?
How does the clathrin-coated vesicle neck narrow? In the final stages of clathrin-coated vesicle (CCV) formation, Phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) undergoes a dephosphorylation by phosphatases such as synaptojanin 1 (Synj1) [1]. Not only does this inhibit [...]
How does the clathrin coated pit form?
How does the clathrin coated pit form? Adaptor proteins such as AP-2, AP180 and CALM (Clathrin-assembly lymphoid myeloid leukaemia protein), which accumulate within the lipid bilayer, are responsible for the recruitment of the triskelion [...]
How is clathrin recruited to the plasma membrane?
How is clathrin recruited to the plasma membrane? Clathrin-mediated endocytosis is triggered by phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) accumulation within the plasma membrane. PIP2 accumulates as a result of phosphoinositide catalysis by the lipid kinases, phosphatidylinositol-4-kinase (PI4K) [...]
What is Membrane Trafficking?
What is Membrane Trafficking? Membrane trafficking encompasses the wide variety of processes that go into the movement of cargo (typically proteins, pathogens and other macromolecules) using membrane bound transport vesicles. This transport can take [...]
Former Lab Members
What steps are involved in the myosin powerstroke?
What steps are involved in the myosin powerstroke? Each myosin motor protein possesses ATPase activity and functions in a cyclical manner that couples ATP binding and hydrolysis to a conformational change in the protein. [...]
Cytoskeleton Dynamics
Cytoskeleton Dynamics The cytoskeleton is a highly dynamic network of filamentous proteins that exists in the 3D space to link all regions and components of the cell. All cells, including bacteria, have a cytoskeleton [...]
Membrane Dynamics
What are cell membranes? What are the physiological functions of biological membranes? Eukaryotic cells and their organelles are enveloped by viscoelastic layers made of lipids and proteins. These layers are generally referred to as [...]
What are cytoskeletal cages?
What are cytoskeletal cages? Cytoskeletal components can assemble into cage-like structures within the cell. These cages serve to segregate intracellular regions or organelles, and can protect their contents from mechanical stress. At the level [...]
What is Myosin Light Chain Kinase?
What is Myosin Light Chain Kinase? Myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) is a calcium/calmodulin-dependent serine/threonine kinase, belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily. It phosphorylates the regulatory myosin light chains of myosin II, in order to [...]
How do lipid bilayer components move?
How do lipid bilayer components move? One of the tenets of the Fluid-Mosaic membrane model is that the components of the bilayers are free to move. Before describing the differences between lipid and protein [...]
How do mechanically-gated ion channels facilitate mechanotransduction?
How do mechanically-gated ion channels facilitate mechanotransduction? Mechanotransduction relies on the ability of cells to convert mechanical cues, such as stretch or compression, to biochemical signals. One way this occurs is through the activity [...]
What is the plasma membrane?
What is the plasma membrane? Plasma membranes are subcellular structures, approximately 10nm thick, that form a protective boundary around the cell as well as the cell’s organelles. They serve to both impede foreign material [...]
How does the clathrin-coated vesicle neck narrow?
How does the clathrin-coated vesicle neck narrow? In the final stages of clathrin-coated vesicle (CCV) formation, Phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) undergoes a dephosphorylation by phosphatases such as synaptojanin 1 (Synj1) [1]. Not only does this inhibit [...]
How does the clathrin coated pit form?
How does the clathrin coated pit form? Adaptor proteins such as AP-2, AP180 and CALM (Clathrin-assembly lymphoid myeloid leukaemia protein), which accumulate within the lipid bilayer, are responsible for the recruitment of the triskelion [...]
How is clathrin recruited to the plasma membrane?
How is clathrin recruited to the plasma membrane? Clathrin-mediated endocytosis is triggered by phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) accumulation within the plasma membrane. PIP2 accumulates as a result of phosphoinositide catalysis by the lipid kinases, phosphatidylinositol-4-kinase (PI4K) [...]
What is Membrane Trafficking?
What is Membrane Trafficking? Membrane trafficking encompasses the wide variety of processes that go into the movement of cargo (typically proteins, pathogens and other macromolecules) using membrane bound transport vesicles. This transport can take [...]
