🔗 Share this article

The Nobel Prize in medical science has been granted for revolutionary discoveries that illuminate how the immune system attacks dangerous pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed scientists—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and American experts Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this honor.

Their research uncovered specialized "sentinels" within the immune system that eliminate malfunctioning immune cells capable of harming the body.

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

These winners will share a prize fund worth 11 million Swedish kronor.

Decisive Discoveries

"The research has been essential for comprehending how the immune system functions and the reason we don't all suffer from serious autoimmune diseases," stated the chair of the Nobel Committee.

The trio's studies address a core mystery: How does the immune system protect us from countless infections while leaving our own tissues intact?

Our body's protection system employs white blood cells that search for indicators of disease, even pathogens and germs it has not met before.

These cells employ sensors—called receptors—that are generated by chance in a vast number of combinations.

This provides the immune system the ability to fight a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the process inevitably creates white blood cells that may attack the host.

Protectors of the Body

Scientists previously knew that a portion of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the thymus—the site where white blood cells develop.

This year's award recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which travel through the system to neutralize any defenders that assault the body's own tissues.

It is known that this process fails in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

A Nobel panel stated, "The discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of research and accelerated the creation of innovative therapies, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding malignancies, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from attacking the tumor, so studies are focused on lowering their quantity.

For self-attack disorders, trials are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the organism is no longer being harmed. A comparable method could also be effective in minimizing the chances of transplanted organ failure.

Pioneering Studies

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed experiments on mice that had their thymus extracted, causing self-attack conditions.

He demonstrated that injecting immune cells from healthy mice could stop the illness—suggesting there was a mechanism for preventing immune cells from attacking the body.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in a California city, were studying an genetic immune disorder in mice and humans that resulted in the discovery of a genetic factor vital for how regulatory T-cells function.

"Their groundbreaking research has uncovered how the body's defenses is controlled by T-reg cells, preventing it from mistakenly targeting the body's own tissues," said a prominent physiology specialist.

"The research is a striking example of how basic biological research can have far-reaching consequences for human health."