Prestigious Prize Honors Groundbreaking Body's Defenses Research

The Nobel Prize in medical science has been granted for transformative findings that clarify how the body's defense network attacks dangerous pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.

A trio of renowned researchers—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and US scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this honor.

Their work identified specialized "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate rogue immune cells that could attacking the body.

The findings are now paving the way for innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

These winners will divide a monetary award worth 11m Swedish kronor.

Crucial Discoveries

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

This trio's studies address a core mystery: How does the defense system defend us from numerous invaders while keeping our own tissues unharmed?

Our body's protection system employs white blood cells that search for signs of infection, even viruses and germs it has never encountered.

These cells employ sensors—called recognition units—that are generated by chance in countless variations.

That gives the defense network the ability to combat a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the process inevitably creates white blood cells that may attack the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Researchers earlier knew that some of these harmful white blood cells were eliminated in the immune organ—the site where immune cells develop.

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

It is known that this mechanism malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and RA.

The Nobel panel stated, "The findings have established a novel area of research and accelerated the creation of innovative therapies, for instance for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

In malignancies, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from attacking the tumor, so research are focused on lowering their quantity.

For autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing increasing T-reg cells so the organism is not under attack. A similar approach could also be useful in minimizing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Innovative Experiments

Professor Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, performed tests on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, causing self-attack conditions.

The researcher showed that injecting immune cells from other mice could prevent the illness—suggesting there was a mechanism for blocking defenders from attacking the body.

Mary Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in a California city, were studying an genetic autoimmune disease in rodents and people that resulted in the discovery of a genetic factor vital for the way T-regs function.

"Their groundbreaking research has revealed how the body's defenses is kept in check by T-reg cells, stopping it from accidentally attacking the body's own tissues," commented a leading biological science expert.

"This work is a striking illustration of how basic physiological research can have broad consequences for public health."