"Last Monday the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi for discovering how the body stops the immune system from attacking itself. The immune system normally fights off infections and diseases. But in conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or type 1 diabetes it mistakenly targets the body's own tissues. The laureates' research focuses on the type of so-called T cells that act as internal regulators, keeping this friendly fire in check."
"During the 1990s Sakaguchi found that mouse immune cells bearing a particular protein marker were essential for preventing self-attack. Eliminating these cells led to widespread tissue damage. Several years later Brunkow and Ramsdell identified the genetic switch behind these regulatory cells while studying mice with severe autoimmune disorders. Their findings have inspired more than 200 clinical trials exploring therapies that include new ways to treat autoimmune conditions and improve organ-transplant success."
Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi identified regulatory T cells that prevent the immune system from attacking the body's own tissues. Sakaguchi found in the 1990s that mouse immune cells with a specific protein marker were essential to prevent self-attack, and removing those cells caused extensive tissue damage. Brunkow and Ramsdell later discovered the genetic switch controlling those regulatory cells while studying mice with severe autoimmune disorders. Their work has spurred more than 200 clinical trials aimed at treating autoimmune diseases and improving organ-transplant outcomes. John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis were recognized for demonstrating quantum effects at much larger scales than previously expected.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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