Prestigious Prize Recognizes Groundbreaking Body's Defenses Research

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network targets harmful pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.

Three esteemed researchers—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and American experts Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this honor.

The research uncovered unique "security guards" within the defense system that eliminate malfunctioning defense cells that could attacking the organism.

The discoveries are now paving the way for new therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

The winners will share a prize fund worth 11 million SEK.

Decisive Discoveries

"The research has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses functions and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases," stated the head of the award panel.

The trio's studies explain a fundamental question: How does the defense system protect us from countless invaders while keeping our own tissues intact?

The immune system employs white blood cells that scan for indicators of disease, including viruses and bacteria it has not met before.

Such cells utilize detectors—known as recognition units—that are generated by chance in countless combinations.

This provides the immune system the ability to combat a wide array of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process unavoidably produces immune cells that may attack the body.

Protectors of the Immune System

Researchers earlier understood that a portion of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the thymus—where white blood cells mature.

This year's Nobel Prize honors the identification of T-reg cells—known as the body's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the system to neutralize other defenders that assault the body's own tissues.

It is known that this mechanism malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and RA.

A Nobel panel stated, "The findings have laid the foundation for a new field of research and accelerated the development of innovative treatments, for example for tumors and immune disorders."

In cancer, regulatory T-cells prevent the body from attacking the tumor, so studies are focused on reducing their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are testing increasing T-reg cells so the organism is not under attack. A similar approach could also be useful in reducing the chances of transplanted organ failure.

Pioneering Studies

Prof Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, conducted experiments on mice that had their thymus extracted, causing autoimmune disease.

He demonstrated that injecting defense cells from other mice could prevent the illness—implying there was a mechanism for blocking immune cells from harming the body.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were studying an inherited autoimmune disease in mice and people that led to the identification of a gene vital for how T-regs function.

"The pioneering work has revealed how the immune system is kept in check by T-reg cells, preventing it from mistakenly targeting the healthy cells," commented a leading biological science expert.

"This work is a striking example of how fundamental biological study can have broad implications for human health."