The prestigious award in medical science was awarded for transformative discoveries that clarify how the immune system targets harmful infections while protecting the healthy tissues.
A trio of esteemed scientists—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this honor.
Their research identified unique "security guards" within the immune system that remove malfunctioning defense cells that could harming the body.
These discoveries are now enabling new treatments for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.
These winners will share a prize fund valued at 11m SEK.
"The work has been essential for comprehending how the immune system operates and why we do not all suffer from serious autoimmune diseases," commented the chair of the Nobel Committee.
The team's studies address a core mystery: In what way does the immune system defend us from countless invaders while leaving our own tissues intact?
The immune system uses white blood cells that search for indicators of disease, even viruses and germs it has not met before.
These defenders employ sensors—called receptors—that are generated by chance in countless variations.
This provides the defense network the ability to combat a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the mechanism inevitably produces white blood cells that may attack the body.
Scientists previously understood that some of these problematic white blood cells were eliminated in the immune organ—the site where white blood cells develop.
The latest Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of T-reg cells—described as the body's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the system to neutralize any immune cells that assault the body's own tissues.
We know that this process fails in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and RA.
The prize committee added, "The findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and accelerated the development of innovative therapies, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."
In malignancies, regulatory T-cells prevent the body from attacking the tumor, so studies are aimed at lowering their quantity.
In autoimmune diseases, experiments are exploring boosting T-reg cells so the body is not under attack. A comparable method could also be effective in reducing the chances of organ transplant failure.
Prof Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, conducted experiments on rodents that had their thymus extracted, leading to self-attack conditions.
He demonstrated that injecting defense cells from other animals could prevent the illness—suggesting there was a system for preventing immune cells from attacking the host.
Mary Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were investigating an inherited immune disorder in rodents and humans that led to the discovery of a genetic factor critical for the way regulatory T-cells operate.
"Their pioneering research has revealed how the immune system is controlled by T-reg cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," commented a leading biological science specialist.
"The research is a remarkable example of how basic biological study can have far-reaching consequences for public health."
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