Prestigious Prize Honors Groundbreaking Immune System Research
This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network attacks harmful pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.
Three renowned researchers—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.
Their research identified unique "security guards" within the defense system that remove rogue immune cells capable of harming the organism.
The discoveries are now enabling innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer.
The winners will share a prize fund worth 11m Swedish kronor.
Crucial Findings
"The research has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses functions and the reason we don't all develop severe self-attack conditions," stated the head of the Nobel Committee.
The trio's research address a core question: How does the immune system protect us from numerous invaders while keeping our own tissues unharmed?
Our immune system employs immune cells that search for signs of disease, including viruses and germs it has not met before.
Such cells utilize detectors—known as recognition units—that are generated by chance in a vast number of combinations.
That provides the immune system the capacity to combat a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the process unavoidably creates immune cells that can target the body.
Security Guards of the Immune System
Scientists earlier understood that a portion of these harmful defense cells were destroyed in the thymus—where immune cells mature.
The latest award recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "security guards"—which patrol the body to disarm any defenders that assault the body's own tissues.
We know that this process fails in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and RA.
The Nobel panel added, "These discoveries have established a new field of research and accelerated the creation of innovative therapies, for instance for cancer and autoimmune diseases."
Regarding cancer, T-regs prevent the body from fighting the growth, so research are aimed at lowering their numbers.
For self-attack disorders, experiments are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is not being harmed. A similar approach could also be useful in reducing the risks of organ transplant failure.
Innovative Studies
Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, conducted tests on rodents that had their thymus removed, causing autoimmune disease.
He showed that introducing immune cells from other mice could prevent the illness—implying there was a system for blocking immune cells from harming the host.
Dr. Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were studying an genetic autoimmune disease in mice 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 kept in check by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly attacking the body's own tissues," said a prominent biological science specialist.
"This research is a striking example of how fundamental biological research can have far-reaching consequences for public health."
