Key immune system discoveries win the 2025 Nobel Prize in medicine!
Earlier this month, Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi were announced as the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for their groundbreaking discoveries on how the immune system functions and regulates itself.
In 1995, Dr. Sakaguchi discovered a previously unknown T-cell subtype, known as regulatory T-cells (Tregs). Tregs are also known as the "peacemakers" for their role in suppressing the immune response to prevent overactivity and maintain immune tolerance. These cells are crucial in preventing autoimmune diseases, limiting inflammation, and are also being researched in treating other diseases like allergies and cancer.
Following this discovery, in 2001, while studying mouse models with autoimmune diseases, Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell found mutations in a gene called Foxp3. This gene helps to create a type of protein called a transcription factor, which controls the activation of other genes. In this case, Dr. Sakaguchi found that the Foxp3 gene is responsible for the creation of Tregs by turning on the genes necessary for these immune cells to develop and function. Without Foxp3, Tregs either wouldn't form or would fail to suppress immune responses, leading to the development of autoimmune disease.
These discoveries are crucial in understanding the complexity of the immune system. They are significant not only for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, but also for cancer patients. When there are too many Tregs suppressing the immune system, the body might not be able to effectively fight off cancerous tumor cells. With cancer, the goal is to suppress the Treg cells to create a more active immune response. In contrast, current research on autoimmune diseases is focusing on how to increase the number of Tregs to temper the body's overactive immune response. These discoveries will help open a new chapter on the use of immunotherapies in treating both cancer and autoimmune diseases.
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