🔗 Share this article

The Nobel Prize in medical science was granted for transformative findings that illuminate how the immune system attacks dangerous pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.

Three renowned researchers—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this accolade.

The work uncovered unique "security guards" within the immune system that remove rogue defense cells capable of harming the body.

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

These laureates will divide a monetary award worth 11m Swedish kronor.

Decisive Discoveries

"Their work has been decisive for understanding how the immune system functions and why we do not all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," commented the chair of the Nobel Committee.

The team's research address a fundamental question: In what way does the defense system defend us from countless infections while keeping our healthy cells unharmed?

Our immune system employs white blood cells that scan for signs of disease, including pathogens and bacteria it has never encountered.

These defenders utilize sensors—called receptors—that are produced by chance in a vast number of combinations.

That provides the defense network the ability to fight a wide array of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process unavoidably creates white blood cells that can target the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

Researchers previously understood that a portion of these problematic white blood cells were destroyed in the thymus—where immune cells mature.

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

We know that this process malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and RA.

The prize committee stated, "The findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and spurred the creation of new treatments, for instance for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding cancer, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from attacking the tumor, so research are aimed at lowering their numbers.

In self-attack disorders, experiments are exploring boosting T-reg cells so the organism is not under attack. A comparable approach could also be useful in minimizing the risks of organ transplant rejection.

Pioneering Studies

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, conducted tests on rodents that had their thymus extracted, causing autoimmune disease.

He demonstrated that injecting defense cells from healthy animals could prevent the illness—suggesting there was a system for preventing defenders from harming the body.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were studying an inherited immune disorder in rodents and people that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor critical for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"The pioneering research has uncovered how the body's defenses is kept in check by T-reg cells, preventing it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," commented a prominent biological science specialist.

"The work is a remarkable illustration of how basic physiological study can have far-reaching consequences for human health."