# Shimon Sakaguchi

Source: https://onco.cc/people/shimon-sakaguchi/  
OnCo record `shimon-sakaguchi` (Person). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Discovered regulatory T cells, the immune cells that suppress anti-tumour responses and are now a target for cancer therapy.

## Summary

Shimon Sakaguchi (Osaka University) identified CD25-positive regulatory T cells in 1995 and demonstrated their role in preventing autoimmunity, a discovery that overturned prevailing dogma and defined a cell type that tumours recruit to escape immune attack. He received the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell. His laboratory works on Treg depletion and modulation for cancer immunotherapy.

## Fields

- Kind: Person
- Last checked: 2026-09-10
- Tags: immunology; regulatory-t-cells; discovery; japan
- Role: Distinguished Professor, Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University
- Specialisms: Regulatory T cells; Immune tolerance; Autoimmunity; Tumour immunology

## Sources

- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Sakaguchi%20S%5BAuthor%5D%20regulatory%20T%20cells

## Connected records

- targets: [CD25 (IL-2 receptor alpha)](https://onco.cc/targets/cd25/)
- institutions: [Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine / Osaka University Hospital](https://onco.cc/institutions/osaka-university/)
- journals: [Cell](https://onco.cc/journals/cell/)

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