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The prestigious award in medical science was awarded for transformative discoveries that illuminate how the body's defense network targets harmful pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.

Three renowned scientists—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.

Their work identified unique "sentinels" within the defense system that remove malfunctioning defense cells capable of attacking the body.

The discoveries are now enabling new therapies for immune disorders and cancer.

The winners will divide a monetary award worth 11 million SEK.

Crucial Findings

"The research has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses functions and why we do not all suffer from serious autoimmune diseases," commented the chair of the Nobel Committee.

This trio's studies explain a fundamental mystery: How does the immune system defend us from numerous infections while leaving our healthy cells intact?

Our immune system uses immune cells that search for indicators of disease, including pathogens and bacteria it has never encountered.

Such defenders employ detectors—called receptors—that are generated randomly in a vast number of combinations.

This provides the immune system the capacity to combat a wide array of threats, but the unpredictability of the mechanism inevitably creates white blood cells that may attack the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Researchers earlier knew that a portion of these problematic white blood cells were eliminated in the immune organ—the site where immune cells mature.

The latest award recognizes the identification of regulatory T-cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the body to disarm any immune cells that assault the body's own tissues.

We know that this mechanism fails in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

The Nobel panel added, "The discoveries have established a new field of research and spurred the creation of innovative treatments, for instance for cancer and immune disorders."

In malignancies, T-regs prevent the system from fighting the tumor, so research are focused on lowering their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are testing increasing T-reg cells so the body is not being harmed. A similar approach could also be effective in minimizing the chances of transplanted organ failure.

Pioneering Studies

Professor Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, performed tests on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, leading to self-attack conditions.

The researcher showed that injecting immune cells from other mice could prevent the illness—implying there was a system for preventing defenders from attacking the host.

Mary Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in a California city, were studying an inherited immune disorder in rodents and people that led to the identification of a gene vital for the way regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their groundbreaking work has revealed how the body's defenses is kept in check by T-reg cells, stopping it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," said a leading physiology specialist.

"The work is a remarkable illustration of how fundamental physiological research can have far-reaching consequences for human health."