🔗 Share this article

The Nobel Prize in medical science was awarded for transformative discoveries that illuminate how the body's defense network attacks harmful pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

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

Their work identified unique "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate malfunctioning immune cells that could harming the body.

These discoveries are now enabling innovative therapies for immune disorders and malignancies.

These winners will share a monetary award worth 11m SEK.

Decisive Findings

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

This team's studies explain a fundamental question: How does the immune system protect us from numerous invaders while keeping our own tissues unharmed?

Our immune system uses white blood cells that scan for signs of infection, even viruses and germs it has not met before.

Such defenders employ detectors—known as receptors—that are generated by chance in a vast number of combinations.

This gives the defense network the ability to fight a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the mechanism inevitably produces white blood cells that can target the body.

Security Guards of the Body

Scientists earlier understood that some of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the thymus—the site where immune cells develop.

The latest award recognizes the identification of regulatory T-cells—described as the body's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the system to disarm any defenders that assault the healthy cells.

We know that this process fails in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

The prize committee stated, "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."

Regarding cancer, T-regs block the system from attacking the growth, so studies are aimed at lowering their quantity.

In autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing increasing T-reg cells so the organism is no longer under attack. A comparable method could also be useful in minimizing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Innovative Studies

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed experiments on mice that had their immune gland removed, causing autoimmune disease.

He showed that injecting immune cells from other animals could stop the disease—suggesting there was a system for preventing immune cells from harming the host.

Dr. Brunkow, from the a research center in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were investigating an inherited immune disorder in mice and humans that resulted in the identification of a gene vital for how T-regs function.

"Their pioneering research has revealed how the body's defenses is kept in check by T-reg cells, stopping it from mistakenly targeting the healthy cells," said a prominent physiology specialist.

"The research is a remarkable example of how basic physiological research can have broad consequences for public health."