封面專題•COVER STORY 澳大新語•2020 UMAGAZINE 22 15 Autophagy is an essential mechanism that keeps our cells in proper balance. It does so by transporting dysfunctional components to the lysosome for digestion. Researchers have learned that autophagy plays an important role in physiological processes and has close links to illnesses such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. In the early years of autophagy research, some researchers suggested that autophagy could lead to autophagic cell death, but Prof Shen has proved that autophagy can, in principle, resist starvation and other stress conditions and promote cell survival. When it comes to cancer, autophagy is widely believed to be a double-edged sword. According to Prof Shen, efficient autophagy can help prevent cancer, but it can also promote the survival of already-existing cancer cells and the development of tumours. ‘By recycling nutrients such as amino acids in cells, autophagy can help cancer cells function properly and survive under various stress conditions,’ Prof Shen says. 細胞自噬（Autophagy）是生物進化過 程中完整保留的一個重要機制，即細胞 通過溶酶體來清除細胞內的損害物質從 而讓細胞恢復正常的一個過程。目前已 知細胞自噬具有十分重要的生理功能， 而且和癌症、神經退行性疾病等許多疾 病密切相關。在細胞自噬研究的早期， 人們認為細胞自噬會導致細胞自噬性死 亡，而沈教授的研究證明，細胞自噬原 則上是抵抗飢餓及應急狀態的一個重要 的促進細胞生存的機制。 沈教授表示，細胞自噬對癌症是一把雙 刃劍：在癌症發生前，增加機體的自噬 水平可以起到預防作用；但在已有的腫 瘤細胞内，自噬可以促進癌細胞的生存 和腫瘤的發生發展。他說：「細胞在飢 餓及應急情況下會激活自噬，通過重新 利用細胞内的營養元素，例如氨基酸， 維持細胞的功能，促進細胞生存。」 沈漢明教授曾在新加坡國立大學楊潞齡醫學院從事細胞自噬、氧化損傷、細胞信號傳導等方面的研究20多 年，至今在《Autophagy》、《Cell Res》、《Cancer Res》、《Mol Cell》、《Nature Protocol》 等SCI期刊發表論文200餘篇，被引用次數超過25,000次。目前在澳大展開關於細胞自噬及溶酶體、線粒 體自噬、腫瘤靶向治療等方向的研究。 Before joining UM, Prof Shen Hanming studied autophagy, oxidative damage, and cell signalling for over two decades in the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore. He has published more than 200 research papers in SCI-indexed journals, such as Autophagy, Cell Res, Cancer Res, Mol Cell and Nature Protocol, with a citation frequency of over 25,000. At UM, he continues to study autophagy and lysosome in cancer cell biology, mitophagy, as well as metabolism and cancer targeted therapy. 癌細胞進行線粒體自噬 Cancer cells undergoing mitophagy 沈漢明教授發現可以用CAV1的缺失或突變作為生物指標， 指導在臨床上是否適合用自噬抑制劑作為治療乳腺癌的手段。 Prof Shen Hanming suggests that CAV1’s deficiency and mutation can be used as a biomarker in the selection of breast cancer patients for using autophagy/lysosome inhibitors in cancer therapy
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