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Prestigious Award Recognizes Pioneering Body's Defenses Discoveries
This year's prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for transformative findings that clarify how the body's defense network targets harmful pathogens while sparing the body's own cells.
Three esteemed researchers—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and US scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.
Their research uncovered specialized "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate malfunctioning defense cells capable of harming the body.
The discoveries are now enabling innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer.
The winners will divide a monetary award worth 11m Swedish kronor.
Crucial Discoveries
"The work has been essential for comprehending how the body's defenses operates and the reason we don't all develop serious self-attack conditions," stated the chair of the award panel.
The trio's studies address a fundamental mystery: How does the defense system protect us from countless invaders while leaving our own tissues intact?
Our body's protection system employs white blood cells that search for signs of disease, even viruses and germs it has not met before.
Such cells utilize sensors—called receptors—that are produced by chance in countless variations.
That gives the defense network the ability to fight a wide array of threats, but the unpredictability of the mechanism inevitably creates white blood cells that can target the host.
Security Guards of the Body
Researchers earlier knew that some of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the immune organ—the site where immune cells mature.
The latest award honors the discovery of T-reg cells—described as the body's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the body to disarm other immune cells that assault the healthy cells.
We know that this mechanism malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
The Nobel panel stated, "These discoveries have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and spurred the creation of new treatments, for instance for tumors and autoimmune diseases."
In cancer, regulatory T-cells block the system from fighting the tumor, so research are focused on reducing their numbers.
For autoimmune diseases, trials are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the organism is no longer under attack. A comparable approach could also be useful in minimizing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.
Innovative Studies
Professor Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, performed experiments on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, leading to self-attack conditions.
The researcher showed that introducing immune cells from healthy mice could prevent the disease—suggesting there was a system for preventing defenders from attacking the host.
Dr. Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were investigating an genetic immune disorder in rodents and humans that led to the discovery of a genetic factor vital for the way regulatory T-cells function.
"The groundbreaking research has uncovered how the body's defenses is kept in check by regulatory T cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," commented a leading physiology specialist.
"This research is a striking example of how basic biological study can have far-reaching implications for human health."
Rita Davis
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