The 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine has been awarded to three researchers to discover a type of immune system cells that help keep defenses under control: so -called regulatory T cells, or TREGS.
[[ERROR-TRANS]]Nuestro sistema inmunitario tiene una tarea complicada: defendernos de virus y bacterias, pero sin atacar por error a nuestro propio cuerpo. Para conseguir ese equilibrio, existen distintos mecanismos de control. Hasta ahora sabíamos que muchas de las células inmunes “equivocadas” se eliminan en el timo, un órgano que actúa como escuela y filtro. Pero ese proceso no es suficiente.
What these researchers discovered is that there are also guard cells that monitor the rest of the immune system and prevent it from turning against us.These cells, the regulators, act as a natural brake that moderates exaggerated immune responses.A gene called Foxp3 is key for these cells to work well.When that gene has a mutation, serious autoimmune diseases appear, because the immune system stops knowing when it should stop.
This discovery not only explains better how our defense system is regulated, but also opens the door to more precise therapies for autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, the immune system destroys the beta cells of the pancreas, responsible for producing insulin.If the role of regulatory T cells is better understood and controlled, in the future treatments that avoid this self -destruction or even restore immune balance could be designed.
Although there is still a long way to go, this progress is encouraging.There are already studies underway to enhance these regulatory cells or use them in personalized therapies, both in diabetes and other autoimmune diseases.
Greetings,