This year's prestigious award in medical science has been granted for transformative findings that clarify how the body's defense network targets dangerous infections while protecting the body's own cells.
A trio of esteemed scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this honor.
The research identified unique "security guards" within the immune system that remove rogue immune cells capable of attacking the body.
These findings are now enabling new therapies for immune disorders and malignancies.
These laureates will divide a prize fund worth 11m SEK.
"The work has been essential for understanding how the immune system functions and why we don't all develop serious autoimmune diseases," stated the chair of the Nobel Committee.
The team's research address a core mystery: In what way does the immune system defend us from countless infections while keeping our own tissues unharmed?
Our immune system employs immune cells that scan for signs of infection, including viruses and bacteria it has never encountered.
These cells utilize detectors—called receptors—that are generated by chance in countless variations.
That gives the immune system the ability to combat a wide array of invaders, but the unpredictability of the mechanism inevitably creates white blood cells that can attack the host.
Scientists earlier knew that a portion of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the thymus—where white blood cells develop.
This year's Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "security guards"—which travel through the body to disarm any defenders that assault the body's own tissues.
It is known that this mechanism malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.
A Nobel panel added, "These discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of research and spurred the creation of new treatments, for example for cancer and immune disorders."
In malignancies, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from attacking the growth, so research are aimed at reducing their numbers.
In autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is not under attack. A comparable approach could also be useful in reducing the risks of organ transplant failure.
Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, conducted tests on mice that had their immune gland extracted, causing self-attack conditions.
The researcher showed that introducing immune cells from other mice could stop the disease—implying there was a mechanism for preventing defenders from attacking the body.
Dr. Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were studying an inherited autoimmune disease in rodents and people that led to the discovery of a gene vital for the way T-regs operate.
"The groundbreaking work has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by regulatory T cells, stopping it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," said a prominent biological science specialist.
"This work is a striking example of how basic biological research can have broad consequences for public health."
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