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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was granted for transformative discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network attacks dangerous infections while protecting the body's own cells.

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

Their research identified unique "security guards" within the defense system that remove malfunctioning immune cells capable of attacking the organism.

These discoveries are now enabling new treatments for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

These winners will share a monetary award valued at 11 million Swedish kronor.

Decisive Discoveries

"The work has been essential for understanding how the immune system functions and the reason we do not all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," stated the head of the award panel.

This trio's research address a fundamental question: In what way does the defense system defend us from countless invaders while leaving our own tissues unharmed?

Our immune system uses immune cells that search for signs of disease, even viruses and germs it has not met before.

Such defenders utilize detectors—called recognition units—that are produced by chance in countless combinations.

This gives the immune system the capacity to fight a broad range of invaders, but the randomness of the process inevitably produces white blood cells that may target the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Scientists earlier understood that some of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the thymus—where immune cells develop.

The latest Nobel Prize recognizes the identification of T-reg cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the system to neutralize any 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.

A prize committee added, "The discoveries have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and spurred the development of new treatments, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding cancer, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from attacking the growth, so studies are aimed at reducing their quantity.

In self-attack disorders, experiments are exploring boosting T-reg cells so the body is no longer being harmed. A similar approach could also be effective in reducing the risks of transplanted organ failure.

Pioneering Experiments

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

He demonstrated that introducing immune cells from healthy animals could stop the disease—implying there was a mechanism for preventing immune cells from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were studying an genetic autoimmune disease in rodents and humans that led to the identification of a genetic factor critical for the way regulatory T-cells operate.

"The groundbreaking work has uncovered how the body's defenses is controlled by T-reg cells, preventing it from accidentally attacking the body's own tissues," commented a prominent physiology specialist.

"This work is a remarkable illustration of how basic biological study can have far-reaching implications for public health."