🔗 Share this article

This year's Nobel Prize in medical science has been awarded for transformative findings that clarify how the immune system targets dangerous pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

Three esteemed researchers—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and American scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this honor.

The research uncovered unique "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate malfunctioning defense cells that could harming the body.

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

These laureates will divide a prize fund valued at 11 million SEK.

Decisive Findings

"Their research has been essential for understanding how the immune system functions and the reason we don't all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," commented the chair of the Nobel Committee.

This trio's research address a fundamental question: How does the immune system defend us from countless invaders while keeping our healthy cells unharmed?

Our body's protection system employs white blood cells that scan for signs of infection, including viruses and bacteria it has not met before.

Such defenders employ sensors—called receptors—that are produced by chance in a vast number of variations.

This gives the immune system the ability to fight a broad range of threats, but the unpredictability of the mechanism inevitably produces immune cells that may attack the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

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

This year's award honors the discovery of T-reg cells—known as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the body to neutralize other immune cells that assault the healthy cells.

It is known that this mechanism malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

A prize committee stated, "These findings have established a novel area of investigation and accelerated the creation of new treatments, for example for cancer and immune disorders."

In cancer, T-regs prevent the body from attacking the growth, so studies are focused on lowering their quantity.

For autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing boosting T-reg cells so the body is no longer being harmed. A similar method could also be effective in reducing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Innovative Experiments

Prof Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, conducted experiments on mice that had their thymus removed, causing autoimmune disease.

He showed that injecting defense cells from other animals could prevent the disease—implying there was a system for blocking immune cells from harming the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were studying an genetic immune disorder in rodents and humans that led to the identification of a genetic factor vital for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"The groundbreaking work has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by T-reg cells, preventing it from mistakenly attacking the body's own tissues," commented a leading biological science specialist.

"The work is a striking example of how fundamental physiological study can have broad consequences for public health."