{"id":22219,"date":"2025-10-06T18:04:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T18:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=22219"},"modified":"2025-10-06T18:04:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T18:04:03","slug":"us-japan-scientists-win-nobel-prize-for-breakthroughs-in-immune-system-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=22219","title":{"rendered":"US, Japan scientists win Nobel Prize for breakthroughs in immune system control"},"content":{"rendered":"
American scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell, together with Shimon Sakaguchi of Japan, won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for discoveries explaining how the immune system spares healthy cells \u2014 paving the way for potential new treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer.<\/p>\n

Their discoveries shed light on peripheral immune tolerance, or \u201chow we keep our immune system under control so we can fight all imaginable microbes and still avoid autoimmune disease,\u201d said Marie Wahren-Herlenius, rheumatology professor at Sweden\u2019s Karolinska Institute, which awards the prize.<\/p>\n

The institute said all three laureates highlighted the role of regulatory T cells \u2014 white blood cells that act as \u201csecurity guards\u201d preventing immune cells from attacking the body\u2019s own tissues.<\/p>\n

Research into what stops the immune system attacking itself <\/p>\n

Brunkow, who learned of her win after her dog barked at a photographer on her Seattle porch, said she and Ramsdell had identified a gene called FOXP3, a marker for regulatory T cells.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re rare, but powerful, and they\u2019re critical for dampening an immune response,\u201d she told Reuters, describing the cells as \u201ca braking system that prevents the immune system from tipping over into attacking itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Osaka, Sakaguchi said he was surprised by the timing of the award.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to think that some sort of reward may be forthcoming if what we have been doing will advance a little further and it will become more beneficial to people in clinical settings,\u201d he said calmly, occasionally smiling.<\/p>\n

During the press conference, Sakaguchi received a call from Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who asked about the future of cancer immunotherapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the time will come when cancer is no longer a scary disease, but a curable one,\u201d Sakaguchi replied.<\/p>\n

The laureates will share a prize of 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million) and gold medals presented by Sweden\u2019s king.<\/p>\n

Brunkow is senior programme manager at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Ramsdell is scientific adviser at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, and Sakaguchi is professor at Osaka University.<\/p>\n

More than 200 human trials in progress<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Bluestone, a longtime collaborator of Ramsdell and co-founder of Sonoma Biotherapeutics, said Ramsdell\u2019s key contribution was identifying the FOXP3 gene in mice, which controls regulatory T cell development. Their findings were first published in 2001.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose cells were the master regulators of the tolerance of the immune system,\u201d Bluestone said.<\/p>\n

Ramsdell could not be reached for comment \u2014 nor could Brunkow or Bluestone \u2014 with Bluestone suggesting Ramsdell might be on a hiking trip without phone reception.<\/p>\n

After announcing the winners, Thomas Perlmann of the Karolinska Institute said no regulatory T-cell therapies had yet reached market, but over 200 clinical trials were ongoing.<\/p>\n

Among early movers, Sonoma Biotherapeutics is working with Regeneron on treatments for inflammatory bowel disease. Quell Therapeutics, in partnership with AstraZeneca, is targeting similar conditions, while Bayer\u2019s BlueRock is also exploring T-cell therapies.<\/p>\n

Medicine kicks off 2025 Nobel season<\/p>\n

The Nobel Prizes, established by Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite, have been awarded since 1901 for exceptional achievements in science, literature, and peace. The economics prize was added later, funded by Sweden\u2019s central bank.<\/p>\n

All Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, except the Peace Prize, which is presented in Oslo.<\/p>\n

Past medicine laureates include Alexander Fleming, who won in 1945 for discovering penicillin. In recent years, the prize has recognized advances that led to COVID-19 vaccines.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s award went to US scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA and its crucial role in the growth of multicellular organisms.<\/p>\n

Medicine traditionally opens the annual Nobel season. The Physics Prize will be announced on Tuesday, followed by other categories.<\/p>\n

The awards culminate in December 10 ceremonies attended by Sweden\u2019s and Norway\u2019s royal families, marking the anniversary of Alfred Nobel\u2019s death.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell, together with Shimon Sakaguchi of Japan, won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for discoveries explaining how the immune system spares healthy cells \u2014 paving the way for potential new treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer. Their discoveries shed light on peripheral immune tolerance, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22219\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}