Nobel Prize Honors Pioneering Body's Defenses Research
The prestigious award in medical science has been granted for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network attacks harmful infections while protecting the healthy tissues.
A trio of renowned researchers—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this honor.
Their work uncovered unique "security guards" within the defense system that eliminate malfunctioning defense cells that could attacking the organism.
The findings are now paving the way for innovative treatments for immune disorders and malignancies.
These laureates will divide a monetary award worth 11m Swedish kronor.
Crucial Discoveries
"The research has been decisive for comprehending how the body's defenses functions and the reason we don't all suffer from severe self-attack conditions," stated the head of the Nobel Committee.
The team's research address a fundamental question: How does the defense system protect us from numerous infections while keeping our healthy cells unharmed?
The body's protection system employs white blood cells that scan for indicators of infection, including viruses and germs it has never encountered.
Such defenders utilize sensors—known as receptors—that are produced by chance in countless combinations.
That gives the defense network the ability to fight a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the mechanism inevitably produces white blood cells that may attack the body.
Protectors of the Immune System
Scientists previously understood that some of these harmful white blood cells were eliminated in the thymus—the site where white blood cells develop.
The latest Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the body's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the body to neutralize other defenders that attack the healthy cells.
It is known that this mechanism fails in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and RA.
The prize committee added, "These discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of investigation and spurred the creation of new treatments, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."
In malignancies, T-regs block the body from fighting the growth, so research are focused on lowering their numbers.
For self-attack disorders, experiments are testing increasing T-reg cells so the body is no longer under attack. A comparable approach could also be effective in minimizing the chances of organ transplant failure.
Innovative Studies
Prof Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, performed experiments on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, causing autoimmune disease.
The researcher showed that introducing defense cells from other mice could stop the disease—suggesting there was a mechanism for preventing immune cells from attacking the host.
Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were investigating an inherited autoimmune disease in rodents and humans that led to the identification of a gene vital for the way regulatory T-cells operate.
"Their groundbreaking work has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly targeting the body's own tissues," said a prominent biological science specialist.
"This research is a remarkable example of how basic physiological study can have broad implications for human health."
