🔗 Share this article

The prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for transformative findings that illuminate how the body's defense network attacks dangerous pathogens while sparing the body's own cells.

A trio of renowned scientists—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.

Their research identified unique "security guards" within the defense system that remove rogue defense cells capable of attacking the body.

These discoveries are now enabling new therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

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

Decisive Discoveries

"The research has been decisive for comprehending how the immune system functions and the reason we don't all suffer from severe self-attack conditions," stated the chair of the award panel.

This team's studies explain a core mystery: How does the defense system protect us from countless infections while leaving our own tissues unharmed?

Our immune system employs white blood cells that search for indicators of disease, including viruses and germs it has not met before.

These defenders utilize sensors—known as recognition units—that are produced randomly in a vast number of combinations.

This gives the immune system the capacity to combat a wide array of invaders, but the randomness of the process unavoidably produces white blood cells that may target the body.

Security Guards of the Body

Researchers earlier knew that some of these problematic white blood cells were eliminated in the immune organ—the site where white blood cells develop.

This year's Nobel Prize honors the discovery of regulatory T-cells—known as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the system to neutralize any immune cells that attack the body's own tissues.

We know that this mechanism malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

The Nobel panel added, "These discoveries have established a novel area of research and spurred the creation of new therapies, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding cancer, regulatory T-cells block the body from attacking the tumor, so research are focused on lowering their quantity.

In self-attack disorders, experiments are exploring boosting regulatory T-cells so the organism is not being harmed. A comparable approach could also be useful in minimizing the chances of transplanted organ failure.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, performed tests on rodents that had their thymus extracted, leading to autoimmune disease.

He showed that injecting defense cells from healthy animals could stop the disease—suggesting there was a mechanism for preventing defenders from harming the body.

Mary Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in a California city, were investigating an genetic immune disorder in mice and humans that led to the identification of a genetic factor vital for how T-regs function.

"Their groundbreaking research has revealed how the body's defenses is kept in check by regulatory T cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the body's own tissues," commented a prominent physiology specialist.

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