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This year's prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine has been granted for transformative findings that illuminate how the body's defense network targets harmful infections while protecting the healthy tissues.

A trio of renowned scientists—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.

The work identified unique "sentinels" within the immune system that remove malfunctioning immune cells capable of harming the body.

These discoveries are now paving the way for innovative treatments for immune disorders and cancer.

These laureates will divide a prize fund valued at 11m SEK.

Decisive Discoveries

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

This team's research address a fundamental mystery: In what way does the immune system protect us from numerous infections while leaving our healthy cells unharmed?

The body's protection system uses white blood cells that scan for indicators of disease, even viruses and germs it has not met before.

Such cells employ detectors—known as recognition units—that are produced by chance in countless variations.

This provides the immune system the ability to combat a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the process unavoidably produces immune cells that may target the host.

Security Guards of the Body

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

The latest award honors the discovery of T-reg cells—known as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the system to disarm other defenders that assault the healthy cells.

It is known that this process malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The Nobel panel stated, "The discoveries have established a new field of investigation and accelerated the development of innovative therapies, for instance for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

In cancer, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from fighting the growth, so studies are focused on reducing their quantity.

For autoimmune diseases, trials are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the organism is no longer under attack. A similar method could also be useful in minimizing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Innovative Studies

Professor Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, conducted tests on mice that had their immune gland extracted, leading to autoimmune disease.

He showed that injecting defense cells from other animals could stop the illness—suggesting there was a mechanism for blocking immune cells from harming the body.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were studying an inherited autoimmune disease in mice and humans that led to the identification of a genetic factor critical for how regulatory T-cells function.

"The groundbreaking work has revealed how the immune system is controlled by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly targeting the body's own tissues," said a leading physiology expert.

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