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This year's prestigious award in medical science was granted for transformative discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network attacks dangerous pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed researchers—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and US experts Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this honor.

The research uncovered unique "sentinels" within the immune system that eliminate rogue immune cells that could attacking the body.

The findings are now paving the way for new treatments for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

These laureates will share a monetary award worth 11m SEK.

Decisive Findings

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

This trio's studies explain a core mystery: In what way does the immune system defend us from numerous invaders while keeping our own tissues unharmed?

Our immune system uses white blood cells that scan for signs of infection, even viruses and bacteria it has not met before.

These defenders employ sensors—called recognition units—that are generated randomly in a vast number of variations.

This gives the defense network the ability to fight a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the mechanism unavoidably produces immune cells that may target the body.

Protectors of the Body

Scientists previously knew that a portion of these harmful defense cells were eliminated in the immune organ—the site where white blood cells develop.

This year's Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "security guards"—which patrol the body to disarm other defenders that attack the healthy cells.

We know that this process fails in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The Nobel panel added, "The discoveries have laid the foundation for a novel area of research and spurred the creation of innovative treatments, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding cancer, T-regs prevent the body from fighting the tumor, so research are aimed at lowering their quantity.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are exploring boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is no longer being harmed. A similar method could also be useful in reducing the risks of organ transplant rejection.

Innovative Studies

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed experiments on rodents that had their thymus removed, leading to self-attack conditions.

He showed that introducing defense cells from other mice could prevent the disease—implying there was a mechanism for blocking defenders from harming the host.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were investigating an inherited autoimmune disease in mice and humans that resulted in the identification of a gene critical for how regulatory T-cells function.

"Their groundbreaking research has uncovered how the body's defenses is kept in check by regulatory T cells, stopping it from mistakenly targeting the body's own tissues," said a leading biological science expert.

"This research is a remarkable illustration of how fundamental physiological study can have broad consequences for human health."