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The Nobel Prize in medical science was awarded for revolutionary findings that illuminate how the body's defense network targets harmful pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.

A trio of renowned scientists—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and American scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this accolade.

Their work identified unique "sentinels" within the immune system that remove rogue defense cells that could harming the organism.

The discoveries are now enabling innovative treatments for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

The laureates will share a monetary award worth 11 million SEK.

Crucial Discoveries

"Their research has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses functions and why we do not all develop severe self-attack conditions," commented the head of the award panel.

This team's research address a core question: How does the defense system defend us from countless infections while keeping our healthy cells unharmed?

The body's protection system uses immune cells that scan for indicators of disease, including pathogens and germs it has never encountered.

Such cells utilize detectors—known as recognition units—that are produced by chance in a vast number of variations.

That gives the immune system the ability to combat a wide array of invaders, but the unpredictability of the mechanism unavoidably creates white blood cells that can attack the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

Researchers previously knew that a portion of these harmful defense cells were eliminated in the immune organ—where immune cells mature.

The latest Nobel Prize honors the discovery of T-reg cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the body to disarm other immune cells that attack the body's own tissues.

We know that this mechanism malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and RA.

A Nobel panel stated, "The findings have established a new field of investigation and accelerated the creation of innovative therapies, for example for cancer and immune disorders."

Regarding malignancies, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from fighting the tumor, so research are aimed at reducing their quantity.

For autoimmune diseases, trials are testing increasing regulatory T-cells so the organism is not under attack. A comparable approach could also be useful in reducing the risks of organ transplant failure.

Innovative Studies

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

The researcher showed that injecting defense cells from other mice 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 Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were investigating an genetic autoimmune disease in mice and people that led to the discovery of a genetic factor vital for how regulatory T-cells function.

"Their groundbreaking research has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by T-reg cells, preventing it from mistakenly targeting the healthy cells," commented a leading biological science expert.

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