🔗 Share this article

The prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine was granted for revolutionary discoveries that illuminate how the immune system attacks harmful pathogens while sparing the body's own cells.

A trio of esteemed researchers—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and US experts Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.

The work identified specialized "sentinels" within the immune system that eliminate malfunctioning immune cells that could attacking the organism.

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

The laureates will divide a monetary award valued at 11 million Swedish kronor.

Crucial Discoveries

"The research has been essential for understanding how the immune system operates and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

The team's studies explain a fundamental question: In what way does the immune system protect us from numerous infections while leaving our healthy cells unharmed?

The body's protection system employs white blood cells that search for indicators of infection, including pathogens and germs it has not met before.

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

This gives the defense network the ability to fight a wide array of threats, but the unpredictability of the mechanism inevitably creates immune cells that can target the body.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Scientists previously understood that some of these harmful defense cells were destroyed in the thymus—where immune cells develop.

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

It is known that this process malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

A prize committee stated, "These discoveries have established a novel area of research and spurred the development of innovative treatments, for instance for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

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

For self-attack disorders, experiments are exploring boosting regulatory T-cells so the organism is not under attack. A comparable method could also be effective in reducing the chances of organ transplant failure.

Innovative Studies

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, performed tests on rodents that had their thymus extracted, causing autoimmune disease.

The researcher demonstrated that introducing defense cells from healthy animals could stop the illness—suggesting there was a system for blocking immune cells from harming the body.

Mary Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were studying an inherited immune disorder in mice and humans that resulted in the identification of a gene critical for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"Their pioneering work has uncovered how the body's defenses is kept in check by regulatory T cells, stopping it from mistakenly targeting the healthy cells," said a prominent biological science expert.

"This work is a striking example of how basic biological research can have broad consequences for public health."