Nobel Award Recognizes Groundbreaking Body's Defenses Discoveries
The prestigious award in medical science was awarded for transformative discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network attacks dangerous infections while sparing the healthy tissues.
Three renowned researchers—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and American experts Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.
The research identified specialized "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate rogue defense cells that could attacking the organism.
These findings are now enabling new treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer.
These laureates will divide a prize fund valued at 11m Swedish kronor.
Decisive Discoveries
"The research has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses operates and the reason we don't all suffer from serious self-attack conditions," stated the chair of the Nobel Committee.
The trio's studies address a core mystery: How does the immune system protect us from numerous infections while leaving our healthy cells intact?
The immune system employs immune cells that search for signs of infection, even viruses and germs it has never encountered.
These defenders employ sensors—known as receptors—that are produced randomly in a vast number of variations.
That provides the immune system the capacity to combat a broad range of invaders, but the randomness of the process unavoidably produces immune cells that may target the host.
Security Guards of the Immune System
Researchers earlier knew that a portion of these problematic white blood cells were eliminated in the thymus—the site where immune cells mature.
The latest award recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the body's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the system to disarm any defenders that assault the body's own tissues.
It is known that this mechanism fails in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
A prize committee added, "These discoveries have established a new field of investigation and accelerated the development of innovative therapies, for instance for tumors and immune disorders."
Regarding cancer, T-regs prevent the system from fighting the tumor, so research are focused on reducing their numbers.
For self-attack disorders, trials are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the organism is not being harmed. A comparable approach could also be effective in minimizing the chances of transplanted organ failure.
Innovative Studies
Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, conducted experiments on mice that had their immune gland extracted, leading to autoimmune disease.
The researcher demonstrated that injecting immune cells from healthy animals could stop the illness—implying there was a mechanism for preventing defenders from attacking the host.
Dr. Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in a California city, were studying an inherited autoimmune disease in mice and people that led to the identification of a genetic factor vital for the way regulatory T-cells function.
"The groundbreaking work has revealed how the immune system is controlled by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly targeting the healthy cells," said a prominent biological science expert.
"This research is a striking example of how fundamental biological study can have broad consequences for public health."
