封面專題•COVER STORY 澳大新語•2020 UMAGAZINE 22 31 劉子銘教授通過多光子顯微系統平台觀察腫瘤的微環境 Prof Liu Tzu-Ming observes the microenvironment of tumours through a multiphoton microscopy system platform 黑色素瘤是抗藥性非常強的癌症，一般 化療對它基本無效，因此黑色素瘤往往 要做標靶治療。劉教授說：「納米藥物 尺寸設計可以把癌症藥物用膠囊包裹起 來，像是裝有雷達的車子，可自動找到 腫瘤的位置，然後把藥打進去。」他們 的研究已經確認腫瘤幹細胞的膠原纖維 與血管微環境，納米藥物尺寸的設計範 圍是10至20納米。 劉教授指癌症就像種子，人的身體就是 土壤，不同種子在不同土壤會長出不同 特性的癌症，也會改造組織環境，建構 出不一樣的腫瘤微環境（居住棲地）， 「腫瘤為了生存，有時會把環境的某些 結構改變，以適合它擴張。藉由研究癌 症如何改造環境的洞察，對於藥物設計 與研發可以有啟示作用。」 劉教授的實驗室目前有兩大研究方向， 一是通過多光子顯微系統平台來觀察腫 瘤的微環境，尤其關注癌細胞和巨噬細 胞之間的關係，從而發現腫瘤的病理， 協助設計標靶藥物，提升癌症的精準治 療。其次是研發一項新的血液螢光技 術，有如天氣預報般對嚴重疾病作早期 診斷。 Melanoma is a type of cancer with high drug resistance and cannot be treated with general chemotherapy. Therefore, targeted therapy is usually mandatory in treating melanoma patients. ‘Nanomedicine allows cancer drugs to be contained inside a capsule. Like a car equipped with radar, the capsule is able to locate the tumour automatically and inject the drugs,’ says Prof Liu. The study has identified the collagen fibre and the vascular microenvironment of tumour stem cells, and has specified the measurement of nanomedicine at between 10 to 20 nm. According to Prof Liu, cancer growth is in a sense analogous to germination. Seeds placed in different soil conditions will grow into plants of different shapes and change their surroundings. Cancer cells in different human bodies can also develop distinctive characteristics and shape the tissue environment around them into their own tumour microenvironment (or habitat). ‘In order to survive, cancer sometimes changes the structure of its environment to suit its expansion,’ says Prof Liu. ‘Investigations into how cancer transforms its environment can have implications for drug design and development.’ Prof Liu’s laboratory currently has two main research directions. One is to observe the microenvironment of tumours through the multiphoton microscopy system platform while paying special attention to the relationship between cancer cells and macrophages, in order to discover the pathology of tumours and assist drug design personnel in designing targeted drugs that can improve precision cancer medicine. The other direction is to develop a new blood fluorescence technology that can make early diagnosis of severe diseases, much like the weather forecast provides early warnings of bad weather. 劉子銘教授於台灣大學光電工程學研究所博士學位畢業，研究光電醫學多年。目前研究聚焦生命科學，使用超快鐳射技 術，探索納米光子學研究癌症生物學，以及創造光的新診斷和治療用途。 A PhD graduate of Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of Photonics and Optoelectronics, Prof Liu Tzu-Ming has studied biomedical optics for many years. His current research interests include life sciences, ultrafast laser technology, using nanophotonics to study cancer biology, and creating new diagnostic and therapeutic uses of light.
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