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
What are adherens junctions?
What are adherens junctions? Adherens junctions (AJs) are cell-cell adhesion complexes that are continuously assembled and disassembled, allowing cells within a tissue to respond to forces, biochemical signals and structural changes in their microenvironment. [...]
How are adherens junctions assembled?
How are adherens junctions assembled? Introduction to the Assembly of Adherens Junctions In situations where migrating cells first encounter each other to form junctions, changes in cellular morphology have been observed and correlated with [...]
What are immunoglobulin superfamily cell adhesion molecules?
What are immunoglobulin superfamily cell adhesion molecules? Members of the Immunoglobulin superfamily include vascular and neural cell adhesions molecules (VCAM and NCAM), intercellular adhesion molecules (ICAM) and the Nectins and nectin-like (Necl) proteins. Nectins [...]
What is the role of adaptor proteins in the stabilization and function of core adherens junction components?
What is the role of adaptor proteins in the stabilization and function of core adherens junction components? Recruitment of plaque proteins to adherens junctions The difficulties in establishing a direct link between the α-catenin–β-catenin [...]
What is the role of plaque proteins in adherens junction assembly?
What is the role of plaque proteins in adherens junction assembly? Cytoplasmic plaque of adherens junctions One of the primary roles of cell-cell adhesion complexes is to connect the actomyosin network of one cell [...]
What is the role of cadherin and nectin recruitment in adherens junction assembly?
What is the role of cadherin and nectin recruitment in adherens junction assembly? Cadherin Recruitment Type I cadherins, also known as classical cadherins, are commonly found in adherens junctions (AJs) and desmosomes. They are [...]
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
Yuan Luezhen
Alumni, Shivashankar Group
Dasvit Shetty
PhD Student, Class of August 2017, Yan Jie Group, Kenney Group
Toh Jia Ying Pearlyn
PhD Student, Class of August 2017, Saunders Group
Tricia Loo Yi Jun
PhD Student, Class of August 2017, Saunders Group
MBI welcomes our incoming class of August 2017
In August, 2017, MBI welcomes our latest incoming class of doctoral students, ten highly qualified candidates from schools both here in Singapore and abroad
Xu Yumeng
Alumni Class of August 2017, Yu Group
Paramasivam Kathirvel
Facility Manager, Shivashankar Group
Xu Xiaochun
Alumni, Margadant Group
Moirangthem Kiran Singh
Research Fellow, Alumni Kenney Group
MBI hosts Physics Colloquium for Olympiad students
As part of the Physics Colloquium for Olympiad Students program, MBI hosted a group of high school students from different schools across Singapore to learn more about interdisciplinary sciences such as Mechanobiology and to get better insights into the application of physical principles in order to answer complex biological questions.
HER2 can HEAR2
HER2 activates mechanosensing on rigid matrices
Too Deep To Divide!
Molecular response to depth sensing differs in cancer cells
Former Lab Members
Yuan Luezhen
Alumni, Shivashankar Group
Dasvit Shetty
PhD Student, Class of August 2017, Yan Jie Group, Kenney Group
Toh Jia Ying Pearlyn
PhD Student, Class of August 2017, Saunders Group
Tricia Loo Yi Jun
PhD Student, Class of August 2017, Saunders Group
MBI welcomes our incoming class of August 2017
In August, 2017, MBI welcomes our latest incoming class of doctoral students, ten highly qualified candidates from schools both here in Singapore and abroad
Xu Yumeng
Alumni Class of August 2017, Yu Group
Paramasivam Kathirvel
Facility Manager, Shivashankar Group
Xu Xiaochun
Alumni, Margadant Group
Moirangthem Kiran Singh
Research Fellow, Alumni Kenney Group
MBI hosts Physics Colloquium for Olympiad students
As part of the Physics Colloquium for Olympiad Students program, MBI hosted a group of high school students from different schools across Singapore to learn more about interdisciplinary sciences such as Mechanobiology and to get better insights into the application of physical principles in order to answer complex biological questions.
HER2 can HEAR2
HER2 activates mechanosensing on rigid matrices
Too Deep To Divide!
Molecular response to depth sensing differs in cancer cells
