Core Points - The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to scientists Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi for their groundbreaking discoveries in peripheral immune tolerance mechanisms [1][3] - The prize amount is 11 million Swedish Krona, approximately 8.34 million RMB, to be shared among the winners [3] Group 1: Research Contributions - The winners identified regulatory T cells as "guardians" of the immune system, which prevent immune cells from attacking the body's own tissues [4][8] - They discovered the "master switch" gene Foxp3, which controls the development and function of these key cells, explaining why the immune system does not attack itself [4][8] - Their findings have laid the groundwork for new research areas and have facilitated the development of therapies for diseases such as type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis [8] Group 2: Background of Winners - Mary E. Brunkow, born in 1961, obtained her PhD in molecular biology from Princeton University in 1991, focusing on the intersection of biomedicine, immunology, and systems biology [3] - Fred Ramsdell, born in 1960, has been active in both basic research and the biotechnology industry, working on translating immunological discoveries into therapeutic strategies [3] - Shimon Sakaguchi, born in 1951, is a professor at Osaka University and has received multiple awards for his pioneering work in immune regulation [3] Group 3: Historical Context - Sakaguchi's initial discovery in 1995 contradicted the prevailing belief that immune tolerance was solely achieved through central tolerance in the thymus [5][6] - Brunkow and Ramsdell focused on a mutant mouse model, "scurfy," which exhibited uncontrolled T cell proliferation due to a genetic defect, leading to their identification of the Foxp3 gene in 2001 [7] - The integration of these discoveries by Sakaguchi in 2003 provided a comprehensive understanding of immune regulation mechanisms [8]