Japanese immunologist Shimon Sakaguchi was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine on Monday along with two other scientists for their discovery concerning peripheral immune tolerance.
Sakaguchi, 74, a professor at University of Osaka, discovered a new class of T cells.
“Sakaguchi was swimming against the tide in 1995, when he made a key discovery,” the Nobel Committee said in a tweet. “At the time, many researchers were convinced that immune tolerance only developed due to potentially harmful immune cells being eliminated in the thymus, through a process called central tolerance.
“Sakaguchi showed that the immune system is more complex and discovered a previously unknown class of immune cells, which protect the body from autoimmune diseases,” it added.
The Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute said the trio, which also included Americans Mary Brunkow, with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle and Frederick Ramsdell, at Sonoma Biotherapeutics, identified the regulatory T cells — the immune system’s security guards — laying the foundation for a new field of research.
The discoveries have also led to the development of potential medical treatments, raising hopes that we will be able to treat or cure autoimmune diseases, provide more effective cancer treatments and prevent serious complications after stem cell transplants, the Nobel Assembly said.
“Their discoveries have been decisive for our understanding of how the immune system functions and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases,” said Olle Kampe, chair of the Nobel Committee.
The laureates’ discoveries launched the field of peripheral tolerance, spurring the development of medical treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases, the committee said in a statement.
Japanese immunologist among three Nobel medicine prize winners
