This year's Nobel Prize in medical science has been awarded for revolutionary findings that clarify how the body's defense network attacks dangerous pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.
A trio of esteemed scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and US experts Mary Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.
The work uncovered specialized "security guards" within the defense system that remove malfunctioning immune cells capable of attacking the body.
The findings are now enabling new treatments for immune disorders and malignancies.
The laureates will divide a prize fund valued at 11m Swedish kronor.
"Their research has been essential for comprehending how the body's defenses functions and why we do not all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," commented the chair of the award panel.
This team's studies address a fundamental mystery: How does the immune system defend us from numerous infections while keeping our healthy cells unharmed?
Our body's protection system employs white blood cells that scan for indicators of infection, including pathogens and bacteria it has not met before.
These defenders utilize sensors—called recognition units—that are produced randomly in countless variations.
That provides the immune system the capacity to fight a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process unavoidably produces immune cells that may attack the host.
Scientists previously understood that a portion of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the immune organ—where immune cells mature.
The latest award honors the identification of T-reg cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which travel through the body to neutralize other defenders that assault the healthy cells.
It is known that this mechanism fails in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.
A Nobel panel added, "The findings have established a new field of investigation and accelerated the creation of new therapies, for example for tumors and immune disorders."
Regarding cancer, regulatory T-cells block the system from fighting the tumor, so studies are aimed at lowering their quantity.
In autoimmune diseases, trials are testing boosting T-reg cells so the organism is not under attack. A comparable method could also be effective in minimizing the risks of organ transplant failure.
Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, conducted experiments on mice that had their immune gland removed, leading to autoimmune disease.
The researcher demonstrated that injecting defense cells from other animals could stop the illness—suggesting there was a mechanism for blocking immune cells from harming the body.
Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were studying an inherited immune disorder in mice and people that led to the identification of a gene critical for the way regulatory T-cells function.
"Their groundbreaking work has revealed how the immune system is kept in check by T-reg cells, preventing it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," said a prominent biological science specialist.
"The research is a striking example of how basic biological study can have broad consequences for human health."
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