Nobel Award Recognizes Pioneering Immune System Discoveries

This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was granted for revolutionary findings that clarify how the body's defense network targets dangerous pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed scientists—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this accolade.

The research identified specialized "security guards" within the immune system that remove malfunctioning immune cells that could harming the organism.

The discoveries are now enabling innovative treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

These winners will divide a prize fund worth 11m Swedish kronor.

Decisive Discoveries

"Their work has been decisive for understanding how the immune system operates and why we do not all develop serious self-attack conditions," commented the chair of the Nobel Committee.

This team's research explain a fundamental mystery: In what way does the immune system protect us from countless infections while keeping our own tissues intact?

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

Such cells utilize sensors—known as receptors—that are produced by chance in countless variations.

This gives the defense network the capacity to combat a broad range of invaders, but the randomness of the process unavoidably creates immune cells that may target the body.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Researchers previously understood that some of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the immune organ—the site where immune cells develop.

The latest Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of T-reg cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the body to disarm any immune cells that assault the body's own tissues.

It is known that this mechanism fails in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

A Nobel panel stated, "These discoveries have established a new field of investigation and accelerated the development of new therapies, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding malignancies, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from attacking the growth, so studies are focused on lowering their quantity.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the organism is not being harmed. A similar approach could also be useful in reducing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, conducted experiments on mice that had their immune gland removed, leading to autoimmune disease.

He demonstrated that injecting immune cells from other mice could prevent the illness—suggesting there was a mechanism for preventing defenders from attacking the body.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in a California city, were studying an inherited autoimmune disease in mice and people that led to the discovery of a gene vital for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"The pioneering work has uncovered how the body's defenses is controlled by regulatory T cells, preventing it from accidentally targeting the healthy cells," commented a leading biological science specialist.

"The work is a remarkable example of how fundamental physiological research can have broad implications for human health."