🔗 Share this article

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

Three renowned scientists—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and American experts Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this accolade.

The research identified specialized "security guards" within the immune system that remove malfunctioning immune cells capable of harming the body.

These findings are now paving the way for innovative treatments for immune disorders and malignancies.

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

Decisive Findings

"Their work has been decisive for comprehending how the immune system functions and the reason we do not all develop serious self-attack conditions," stated the head of the Nobel Committee.

This team's research address a core mystery: In what way does the defense system defend us from countless invaders while leaving our own tissues intact?

The body's protection system employs immune cells that scan for signs of infection, including viruses and bacteria it has never encountered.

These cells employ sensors—called receptors—that are generated randomly in countless combinations.

That gives the defense network the ability to combat a broad range of invaders, but the randomness of the mechanism unavoidably creates white blood cells that may target the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

Scientists earlier understood that a portion of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the immune organ—where immune cells mature.

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

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

A Nobel panel stated, "These discoveries have established a new field of research and accelerated the development of new therapies, for instance for cancer and immune disorders."

Regarding malignancies, regulatory T-cells block the system from attacking the tumor, so research are focused on lowering their numbers.

For self-attack disorders, trials are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is not being harmed. A similar approach could also be effective in minimizing the chances of transplanted organ rejection.

Pioneering Studies

Prof Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, performed tests on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, leading to autoimmune disease.

The researcher demonstrated that injecting defense cells from healthy animals could prevent the illness—suggesting there was a system for preventing immune cells from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were investigating an inherited autoimmune disease in rodents and people that led to the discovery of a genetic factor vital for how T-regs function.

"The groundbreaking work has revealed how the immune system is kept in check by T-reg cells, stopping it from accidentally targeting the body's own tissues," commented a leading physiology specialist.

"The research is a striking illustration of how fundamental biological research can have broad consequences for public health."