YU Hanry
Professor, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore
phsyuh@nus.edu.sg
+65 6516 3466
MD 9, #03-03; MD 1, #B1-03;
National University of Singapore
2 Medical Drive #04-01
Singapore 117597
Laboratory website
Translational Mechanobiology Laboratory
Research Program
Technology Innovation for Mechanobiology
P. Shakthi
Research Assistant, Dye & Michelot Groups
Lim Choon Kiat
Senior Research Fellow, Li Group
Nicholas Chan Zhen Woon
Research Fellow, Yan Jie Group
Disrupted Cell-Matrix Interactions Drives Aging and Reveals New Paths for Skin Regeneration
Researchers from the Li Lab discover how α5-integrin–FN interactions preserve dermal integrity, offering new insights for antiaging strategies targeting ECM organization and fibroblast function.
Yu Hanry
Principal Investigator
Research Areas
Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory translates the latest biological and engineering knowledge into innovative technologies for diagnostics, therapeutics and drug testing applications in pharmaceutical and healthcare industry.
Research Interests
We adopt the latest industrial management models of teams to train future leaders of the R&D-based industry and academia. Our research expertise span from basic biological studies, biomaterials synthesis, to integrative engineering of biomedical devices that facilitate the translation of systems level understanding of biological functional processes into significant application solutions to help patients with liver diseases; and fuel biomedical industrial development in Asia. We acquire fundamental principles and technologies to quantitatively study and manipulate liver cell and tissue polarity and functions at meso-scale such that their global tissue structures and functions can be precision-engineered at mm-cm scales for applications.
Biography
Prof Yu is a Professor in the Department of Physiology, YLL School of Medicine, National University Health System, Principal Investigator at MBI, and Co-Lead Principal Investigator, Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized-Medicine (CAMP), Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART). He was trained as a cell biologist but ventured into various other disciplines such as imaging, biomaterials, tissue engineering, drug testing, and computational biology of liver fibrosis. He takes pride in the interdisciplinary approach to research and graduate training; and he strives to build integrated teams to equip future graduates to readily adapt into both industrial and future academic settings.
Education
PhD, Duke University, USA
Recent Publications
- Balachander GM, Ng IC, Pai RR, Mitra K, Tasnim F, Lim YS, Kwok R, Song Y, Yaw LP, Quah CB, Zhao J, Septiana WL, Kota VG, Teng Y, Zheng K, Xu Y, Lim SH, Ng HH, and Yu H. LEADS – a comprehensive human liver-on-a-chip for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) drug testing. Lab Chip 2025;. [PMID: 40391591]
- Wu X, Raymond JJ, Liu Y, Odermatt AJ, Sin W, Teo DBL, Natarajan M, Ng IC, Birnbaum ME, Lu TK, Han J, Springs SL, and Yu H. Rapid Universal Detection of High-Risk and Low-Abundance Microbial Contaminations in CAR-T Cell Therapy. Small Methods 2025;:e2500253. [PMID: 40159755]
- Zhou H, Loo LSW, Ong FYT, Lou X, Wang J, Myint MK, Thong A, Seow DCS, Wibowo M, Ng S, Lv Y, Kwang LG, Bennie RZ, Pang KT, Dobson RCJ, Domigan LJ, Kanagasundaram Y, and Yu H. Cost-effective production of meaty aroma from porcine cells for hybrid cultivated meat. Food Chem 2025; 473:142946. [PMID: 39864181]
- Bennie RZ, Ogilvie OJ, Loo LSW, Zhou H, Ng SK, Jin A, Trlin HJF, Wan A, Yu H, Domigan LJ, and Dobson RCJ. A risk-based approach can guide safe cell line development and cell banking for scaled-up cultivated meat production. Nat Food 2025;. [PMID: 39753758]
- Lou X, Wang J, Kwang LG, Zhou H, Ong FYT, Ng S, and Yu H. Perforated imprinting on high moisture meat analogue confers long range mechanical anisotropy resembling meat cuts. NPJ Sci Food 2024; 8(1):106. [PMID: 39706829]
- Liu Y, Raymond JJ, Wu X, Chua PWL, Ling SYH, Chan CC, Chan C, Loh JXY, Song MXY, Ong MYY, Ho P, Mcbee ME, Springs SL, Yu H, and Han J. Electrostatic microfiltration (EM) enriches and recovers viable microorganisms at low-abundance in large-volume samples and enhances downstream detection. Lab Chip 2024;. [PMID: 39189168]
- Ma Y, Li Z, Luo Y, Chen Y, Ma L, Liu X, Xiao J, Huang M, Li Y, Jiang H, Wang M, Wang X, Li J, Kong J, Shi P, Yu H, Jiang X, and Guo Q. Biodegradable Microembolics with Nanografted Polyanions Enable High-Efficiency Drug Loading and Sustained Deep-Tumor Drug Penetration for Locoregional Chemoembolization Treatment. ACS Nano 2024;. [PMID: 38946122]
- Wu Y, Cheng J, Qi J, Hang C, Dong R, Low BC, Yu H, and Jiang X. Three-dimensional liquid metal-based neuro-interfaces for human hippocampal organoids. Nat Commun 2024; 15(1):4047. [PMID: 38744873]
- Luo X, Wang J, Tan C, Dou Q, Han Z, Wang Z, Tasnim F, Wang X, Zhan Q, Li X, Zhou Q, Cheng J, Liao F, Yip HC, Jiang J, Tan RT, Liu S, and Yu H. Rapid Endoscopic Diagnosis of Benign Ulcerative Colorectal Diseases with an Artificial Intelligence Contextual Framework. Gastroenterology 2024;. [PMID: 38583724]
Lab Members
Recent Lab Alumni
How does force generation within lamellipodia facilitate cell translocation?
How does force generation within lamellipodia facilitate cell translocation? Interactions between actin filament networks and the focal adhesions to which they are linked results in the generation of forces. These forces may be exerted [...]
What mechanisms drive retraction of the trailing edge?
What mechanisms drive retraction of the trailing edge? Protrusion at the front and retraction at the rear are key force-generating processes at the cell periphery that culminate in the translocation of the cell. For [...]
What are invadopodia?
What are invadopodia? Invadopodia are actin-rich structures that are present at the basal surfaces of cells that are capable of crossing extracellular barriers, such as cancer cells. The primary function of invadopodia appears to [...]
What mechanisms drive invadopodia extension?
What mechanisms drive invadopodia extension? Following initiation by an appropriate signal, the actin cytoskeleton is reorganized to facilitate invadopodia formation. Although several kinases and GTPases are known to influence the transduction of extracellular signaling [...]
How do invadopodia degrade the extracellular matrix?
How do invadopodia degrade the extracellular matrix? The main function attributed to invadopodia is that of extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation, facilitated by the secretion of proteases. Maintenance of this process requires the delivery of [...]
What are the first steps in invadopodia assembly and disassembly?
What is the first step in invadopodia assembly? Initiation of invadopdia formation is highly complex, being influenced by various signalling cascades and phosphorylation events that occur following detection of a stimulant. For example, activation [...]
What are podosomes?
What are podosomes? Podosomes are actin-rich, adhesive structures that are present at the ventral surface of cells of the monocytic myeloid lineage, stimulated endothelial cells [1] and cultured Src-transformed cancer cells. These structures are [...]
What are the functions of podosomes?
What are the functions of podosomes? Both focal adhesions and podosomes are intimately involved in cell motility, with podosomes specifically implicated in cell invasion. Invasiveness is achieved through the secretion of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) [...]
What mechanisms drive cytoskeleton extension within podosomes?
What mechanisms drive cytoskeleton extension within podosomes? Interactions between the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cell surface integrins leads to podosome formation. The initiating signal is transduced through mechanosensing integrins to the cytoskeleton, upon which [...]
What are stress fibers?
What are stress fibers? Stress fibers are higher order cytoskeletal structures composed of cross-linked actin filament bundles, and in many cases, myosin motor proteins, that span a length of 1-2 micrometers [1]. At least [...]
What is the function of stress fibers?
What is the function of stress fibers? Stress fibers are contractile in nature. By exerting and maintaining tension on the underlying substratum, they form a key element of the mechanotransduction apparatus that links the [...]
What is the first step in podosome assembly?
What is the first step in podosome assembly? Podosome initiation and assembly is highly regulated, both spatially and temporally. Dendritic cells best exemplify the temporal regulation of podosome formation. Following activation by an antigen [...]
