This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to three scientists for their research on regulatory T cells (Tregs). The discovery of this immune system opens the door to the development of new therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases.
Prof. Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell from the United States and Professor Shimon Sakaguchi from Japan shared a prize worth SEK 11 million (~RM4.9 million) for discoveries related to peripheral immune tolerance regulated by Tregs by preventing the body's immune system from harming healthy cells. Their discoveries have improved our understanding of how the immune system works and why we don't all get serious autoimmune diseases.
Sakaguchi made his first major discovery in 1995 when he showed that the immune system is more complex and discovered a previously unknown class of Treg immune cells that act throughout the body.
Brunkow and Ramsdell made a landmark discovery in 2001, when they discovered why certain strains of mice are prone to autoimmune diseases through the association of mutations in the Foxp3 gene that are linked to the serious autoimmune disease IPEX in humans.
Sakaguchi later linked these findings to the demonstration that Foxp3 regulates the development of Tregs, and a new field of peripheral tolerance research began with an estimated 200 clinical trials underway for drugs based on or interacting with these cells.
Treg cell therapy is currently being explored as a treatment for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and to prevent organ transplant rejection. It is also being modified to restore and enhance immune responses to malignant cells.