07/10/2025
2025 年諾貝爾醫學獎:免疫系統的新守門人T regs
想像你的身體是一座城邦,免疫系統是巡邏的軍隊——但如果軍隊分不清市民跟壞蛋,就會鬧大事
今年諾貝爾醫學獎頒給了三位科學家:Mary E. Brunkow、Fred Ramsdell 與 Shimon Sakaguchi,他們揭露了免疫系統裡的「和事佬」:調節性 T 細胞(regulatory T cells,簡稱 T regs),負責阻止免疫系統誤傷自家人
Shimon Sakaguchi 在 1995 年率先發現這群看不見但很關鍵的細胞——當時很多人以為「只要把壞的免疫細胞在胸腺清掉就沒事」,他卻發現外圍還有一套監控機制。這就像發現城邦裡除了警察,還有一群默默維持秩序的巡守隊
接著在 2001 年,Brunkow 與 Ramsdell 找到一個關鍵基因 Foxp3:這個基因像是製造調節員的說明書。當這個說明書壞掉,人就可能出現嚴重自體免疫疾病(例如 IPEX)。最終把「誰來當調節員」和「怎麼造調節員」連在一起的發現,開啟了研究免疫耐受(immune tolerance)的新領域
發現 T regs 與 Foxp3 不只讓我們理解「為什麼免疫系統會攻擊自己」,還催生新的治療方向——像是調整 Tregs 來治療自體免疫疾病、在癌症療法中暫時關掉 Tregs 讓免疫攻擊腫瘤,或提高器官移植的成功率。簡單說,掌握了和平守門人,就能更靈活操控戰力
摘要自諾貝爾獎
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2025/press-release/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social+media+&utm_campaign=nobel+prize+announcements+2025&utm_content=post
BREAKING NEWS
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has decided to award the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.”
This year’s medicine laureates have discovered how the immune system is kept in check. The body’s powerful immune system must be regulated, or it may attack our own organs. Brunkow, Ramsdell and Sakaguchi have been awarded this year’s medicine prize for their groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body.
The laureates identified the immune system’s security guards, regulatory T cells, which prevent immune cells from attacking our own body.
The laureates’ discoveries launched the field of peripheral tolerance, spurring the development of medical treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases. This may also lead to more successful transplantations. Several of these treatments are now undergoing clinical trials.
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