🔗 Share this article

This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was granted for transformative discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network targets harmful infections while sparing the healthy tissues.

A trio of renowned researchers—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this accolade.

Their work uncovered unique "sentinels" within the defense system that eliminate rogue defense cells that could harming the body.

These discoveries are now paving the way for new therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

The winners will share a prize fund valued at 11m Swedish kronor.

Decisive Findings

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

This trio's research explain a fundamental question: In what way does the immune system protect us from numerous infections while leaving our own tissues unharmed?

Our immune system employs immune cells that search for signs of infection, including pathogens and bacteria it has never encountered.

These cells employ detectors—called recognition units—that are generated randomly in a vast number of variations.

That gives the defense network the ability to fight a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process inevitably produces white blood cells that may target the host.

Security Guards of the Body

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

This year's Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the body to disarm other defenders that attack the healthy cells.

It is known that this process fails in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The prize committee added, "The findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and accelerated the development of innovative treatments, for example for tumors and immune disorders."

In malignancies, regulatory T-cells block the system from attacking the growth, so research are aimed at lowering their numbers.

For self-attack disorders, trials are exploring boosting T-reg cells so the organism is not being harmed. A similar method could also be useful in reducing the chances of transplanted organ failure.

Pioneering Studies

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, conducted experiments on mice that had their thymus removed, causing self-attack conditions.

He showed that injecting immune cells from healthy mice could prevent the illness—implying there was a system for preventing immune cells from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were investigating an inherited immune disorder in mice and people that led to the identification of a genetic factor critical for the way T-regs operate.

"Their groundbreaking research has revealed how the immune system is controlled by T-reg cells, preventing it from accidentally attacking the body's own tissues," commented a prominent physiology specialist.

"This research is a striking example of how basic physiological research can have far-reaching implications for public health."