Prestigious Prize Honors Pioneering Immune System Research

The prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for transformative findings that illuminate how the immune system attacks dangerous infections while protecting the body's own cells.

Three renowned scientists—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and US scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.

The work identified unique "security guards" within the immune system that remove rogue immune cells that could attacking the organism.

These discoveries are now paving the way for innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

The laureates will share a prize fund worth 11 million Swedish kronor.

Crucial Discoveries

"The work has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses functions and why we don't all develop severe self-attack conditions," stated the chair of the Nobel Committee.

This team's studies explain a core question: How does the immune system defend us from countless invaders while keeping our healthy cells unharmed?

The immune system uses white blood cells that search for signs of infection, including pathogens and bacteria it has not met before.

Such cells employ sensors—known as receptors—that are generated randomly in countless combinations.

This provides the defense network the ability to combat a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the mechanism unavoidably creates immune cells that can target the host.

Protectors of the Body

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

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

We know that this mechanism malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

A prize committee stated, "These findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of research and accelerated the development of innovative treatments, for example for tumors and immune disorders."

In malignancies, T-regs prevent the system from attacking the tumor, so research are aimed at reducing their numbers.

For autoimmune diseases, trials are testing increasing T-reg cells so the body is no longer under attack. A similar method could also be effective in reducing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Innovative Experiments

Professor Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, conducted tests on mice that had their immune gland removed, leading to autoimmune disease.

The researcher showed that injecting defense cells from other animals could prevent the disease—suggesting there was a system for preventing defenders from attacking the host.

Mary Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were investigating an inherited autoimmune disease in rodents and people that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor critical for how regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their groundbreaking research has uncovered how the immune system is kept in check by regulatory T cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," commented a leading physiology specialist.

"This research is a striking illustration of how basic biological research can have far-reaching implications for human health."