🔗 Share this article

The Nobel Prize in medical science was granted for transformative findings that clarify how the body's defense network targets harmful pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

Three renowned researchers—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and US experts Mary Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this honor.

Their work identified unique "security guards" within the immune system that remove malfunctioning immune cells that could harming the organism.

The discoveries are now paving the way for new treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

The laureates will divide a monetary award worth 11m SEK.

Crucial Findings

"The research has been essential for comprehending how the immune system operates and the reason we don't all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," stated the chair of the award panel.

The trio's studies explain a core question: In what way does the defense system protect us from countless infections while keeping our healthy cells intact?

The body's protection system uses white blood cells that scan for signs of infection, even viruses and germs it has never encountered.

These cells employ sensors—called recognition units—that are produced by chance in a vast number of variations.

That provides the defense network the capacity to fight a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the process inevitably produces white blood cells that may attack the body.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Researchers previously understood that some of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the immune organ—where immune cells mature.

The latest Nobel Prize honors the discovery of T-reg cells—known as the immune system's "security guards"—which travel through the body to disarm other immune cells that assault the healthy cells.

It is known that this process fails in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

The Nobel panel added, "These findings have laid the foundation for a new field of research and accelerated the development of new therapies, for instance for tumors and immune disorders."

Regarding cancer, regulatory T-cells block the body from fighting the tumor, so studies are aimed at lowering their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the body is no longer being harmed. A similar approach could also be useful in minimizing the chances of transplanted organ failure.

Pioneering Experiments

Prof Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, performed experiments on rodents that had their thymus removed, causing self-attack conditions.

The researcher showed that introducing immune cells from other animals could prevent the illness—implying there was a mechanism for preventing defenders from harming the body.

Dr. Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were investigating an inherited immune disorder in mice and humans that led to the identification of a gene critical for how regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their pioneering work has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by T-reg cells, stopping it from accidentally targeting the healthy cells," commented a leading physiology specialist.

"The research is a striking example of how fundamental biological study can have far-reaching consequences for human health."