🔗 Share this article

The Nobel Prize in medical science has been awarded for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the immune system targets harmful infections while sparing the body's own cells.

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

The work identified specialized "sentinels" within the defense system that remove rogue immune cells that could attacking the body.

These findings are now enabling new therapies for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

The laureates will share a prize fund worth 11m Swedish kronor.

Crucial Discoveries

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

The team's research explain a fundamental question: How does the immune system defend us from numerous invaders while leaving our own tissues unharmed?

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

These defenders employ detectors—called receptors—that are produced by chance in countless combinations.

This gives the immune system the capacity to fight a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the mechanism unavoidably creates immune cells that may target the body.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Researchers earlier knew that a portion of these harmful defense cells were destroyed in the thymus—the site where white blood cells mature.

The latest award recognizes the identification of T-reg cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the body to neutralize other defenders that attack the body's own tissues.

It is known that this process fails in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and RA.

A Nobel panel stated, "The discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of research and accelerated the development of innovative therapies, for example for tumors and immune disorders."

Regarding malignancies, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from attacking the growth, so studies are aimed at reducing their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are exploring boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is not being harmed. A similar approach could also be useful in reducing the risks of organ transplant failure.

Innovative Studies

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed experiments on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, leading to self-attack conditions.

The researcher demonstrated that introducing defense cells from healthy animals could stop the illness—implying there was a system for blocking immune cells from attacking the host.

Mary Brunkow, from the a research center in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were studying an inherited immune disorder in mice and people that resulted in the discovery of a genetic factor critical for how T-regs function.

"The groundbreaking research has revealed how the immune system is kept in check by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly targeting the body's own tissues," said a prominent biological science expert.

"This work is a remarkable illustration of how basic physiological study can have broad implications for public health."