This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been granted for transformative findings that clarify how the body's defense network attacks dangerous pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.
A trio of renowned researchers—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.
The research uncovered specialized "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate malfunctioning defense cells capable of attacking the body.
These discoveries are now paving the way for innovative therapies for immune disorders and cancer.
The laureates will divide a prize fund valued at 11m Swedish kronor.
Crucial Discoveries
"Their research has been decisive for comprehending how the immune system functions and the reason we do not all suffer from serious self-attack conditions," commented the head of the award panel.
This team's research explain a fundamental question: In what way does the immune system defend us from numerous infections while keeping our healthy cells unharmed?
The body's protection system uses white blood cells that search for signs of disease, even pathogens and germs it has not met before.
Such defenders utilize detectors—known as recognition units—that are produced randomly in a vast number of combinations.
This gives the immune system the ability to fight a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the mechanism unavoidably produces white blood cells that can attack the host.
Security Guards of the Body
Researchers earlier knew that a portion of these harmful defense cells were destroyed in the immune organ—the site where immune cells develop.
This year's award honors the identification of regulatory T-cells—known as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the system to disarm other defenders that assault the body's own tissues.
We know that this process malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
The prize committee stated, "The discoveries have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and spurred the creation of new treatments, for instance for cancer and immune disorders."
In 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 body is no longer under attack. A similar method could also be useful in minimizing the risks of organ transplant rejection.
Pioneering Experiments
Professor Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, conducted tests on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, causing self-attack conditions.
The researcher demonstrated that introducing immune cells from other mice could stop the illness—suggesting there was a system for preventing defenders from harming the body.
Mary Brunkow, from the a research center in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were studying an inherited immune disorder in mice and humans that led to the discovery of a gene vital for the way regulatory T-cells function.
"Their groundbreaking research has revealed how the immune system is kept in check by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly targeting the body's own tissues," commented a leading physiology expert.
"This research is a striking illustration of how basic biological study can have far-reaching implications for human health."
