🔗 Share this article

The prestigious award in medical science was awarded for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the immune system attacks dangerous infections while sparing the body's own cells.

Three esteemed scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this honor.

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

These discoveries are now enabling new treatments for immune disorders and malignancies.

These laureates will divide a monetary award valued at 11m SEK.

Crucial Findings

"Their research has been essential for understanding how the body's defenses functions and why we do not all suffer from serious self-attack conditions," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

This trio's research address a core mystery: How does the immune system defend us from numerous invaders while leaving our own tissues intact?

Our body's protection system uses immune cells that search for signs of disease, including pathogens and bacteria it has never encountered.

Such cells utilize detectors—called receptors—that are generated by chance in a vast number of variations.

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

Protectors of the Immune System

Researchers earlier understood that some of these problematic white blood cells were eliminated in the immune organ—where immune cells mature.

The latest award honors the identification of regulatory T-cells—known as the body's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the body to disarm any immune cells that assault the body's own tissues.

We know that this process fails in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The Nobel panel stated, "The findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of research and accelerated the creation of innovative treatments, for instance for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

In malignancies, regulatory T-cells block the body from fighting the tumor, so studies are aimed at lowering their numbers.

In self-attack disorders, experiments are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the organism is no longer under attack. A comparable method could also be useful in reducing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Pioneering Studies

Prof Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, conducted experiments on mice that had their immune gland removed, causing autoimmune disease.

The researcher demonstrated that injecting defense cells from healthy animals could prevent the disease—suggesting there was a system for preventing defenders from harming the host.

Mary Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were studying an genetic immune disorder in rodents and humans that led to the discovery of a gene vital for how regulatory T-cells operate.

"The groundbreaking work has uncovered how the immune system is kept in check by regulatory T cells, stopping it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," commented a leading physiology expert.

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