Prestigious Prize Recognizes Pioneering Immune System Discoveries

This year's Nobel Prize in medical science has been awarded for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network targets harmful infections while sparing the healthy tissues.

A trio of renowned scientists—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and American experts Mary Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this accolade.

The research identified unique "security guards" within the defense system that remove rogue defense cells that could harming the organism.

The discoveries are now enabling innovative therapies for immune disorders and cancer.

The winners will divide a monetary award valued at 11 million Swedish kronor.

Crucial Discoveries

"The work has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses operates and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

The trio's studies explain a core question: How does the defense system defend us from countless invaders while leaving our healthy cells unharmed?

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

These cells employ detectors—known as receptors—that are generated randomly in a vast number of variations.

That gives the defense network the capacity to fight a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the process inevitably produces white blood cells that can attack the body.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Researchers previously understood that some of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the thymus—the site where white blood cells mature.

The latest award recognizes the identification of T-reg cells—known as the immune system's "security guards"—which patrol the system to neutralize any defenders that attack the healthy cells.

We know that this mechanism malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and RA.

The prize committee added, "These findings have established a novel area of investigation and spurred the creation of new therapies, for instance for tumors and immune disorders."

In cancer, T-regs block the body from fighting the tumor, so studies are focused on reducing their numbers.

For autoimmune diseases, experiments are exploring boosting T-reg cells so the organism is not under attack. A similar approach could also be useful in minimizing the risks of organ transplant rejection.

Innovative Experiments

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

The researcher showed that introducing immune cells from healthy animals could stop the disease—implying there was a mechanism for blocking immune cells from harming the body.

Dr. Brunkow, from the a research center in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were studying an inherited immune disorder in rodents and humans that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor critical for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"Their pioneering research has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by T-reg cells, preventing it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," said a leading biological science specialist.

"This research is a remarkable illustration of how fundamental physiological study can have broad implications for human health."