Prestigious Prize Honors Groundbreaking Immune System Discoveries
This year's prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for revolutionary discoveries that illuminate how the body's defense network attacks dangerous infections while protecting the body's own cells.
A trio of esteemed scientists—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this honor.
The research identified unique "sentinels" within the defense system that remove rogue defense cells that could attacking the body.
These discoveries are now enabling innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.
The laureates will divide a monetary award valued at 11m Swedish kronor.
Decisive Findings
"Their research has been decisive for comprehending how the body's defenses functions and why we don't all suffer from serious autoimmune diseases," commented the chair of the Nobel Committee.
The trio's studies address a fundamental mystery: How does the defense system protect us from countless invaders while leaving our healthy cells intact?
The body's protection system uses immune cells that search for signs of disease, including pathogens and bacteria it has never encountered.
Such defenders utilize detectors—known as receptors—that are generated randomly in countless combinations.
This provides the immune system the ability to fight a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process inevitably creates white blood cells that can target the host.
Security Guards of the Body
Scientists earlier understood that some of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the thymus—the site where immune cells develop.
The latest award honors the discovery of T-reg cells—known as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the body to disarm any immune cells that attack the body's own tissues.
We know that this process malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and RA.
A Nobel panel stated, "These findings have established a new field of research and accelerated the creation of new therapies, for instance for cancer and autoimmune diseases."
Regarding malignancies, regulatory T-cells block the system from attacking the tumor, so studies are focused on lowering their numbers.
In self-attack disorders, trials are exploring increasing regulatory T-cells so the organism is not being harmed. A comparable approach could also be useful in minimizing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.
Pioneering Experiments
Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed tests on rodents that had their thymus removed, causing autoimmune disease.
He showed that injecting defense cells from other mice could stop the illness—suggesting there was a mechanism for blocking immune cells from attacking the body.
Mary Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were investigating an inherited immune disorder in mice and humans that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor vital for how regulatory T-cells function.
"Their pioneering research has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by T-reg cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," said a prominent biological science specialist.
"The research is a remarkable example of how basic biological research can have broad consequences for human health."
