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The prestigious award in medical science has been awarded for transformative findings that clarify how the immune system targets dangerous pathogens while sparing the body's own cells.

A trio of esteemed scientists—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and American scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this accolade.

Their work identified specialized "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate rogue defense cells that could attacking the organism.

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

The winners will divide a prize fund worth 11 million Swedish kronor.

Crucial Discoveries

"Their research has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses functions and the reason we don't all develop serious self-attack conditions," stated the chair of the Nobel Committee.

The team's research explain a core question: In what way does the immune system defend us from countless invaders while keeping our own tissues unharmed?

The body's protection system uses white blood cells that search for indicators of infection, even viruses and germs it has never encountered.

These cells utilize sensors—called recognition units—that are generated by chance in a vast number of combinations.

This provides the defense network the capacity to fight a wide array of invaders, but the randomness of the mechanism unavoidably produces immune cells that may target the host.

Protectors of the Body

Scientists earlier understood that some of these harmful defense cells were eliminated in the immune organ—the site where white blood cells mature.

The latest award recognizes the discovery of T-reg cells—known as the immune system's "security guards"—which patrol the system to disarm any immune cells that attack the healthy cells.

We know that this mechanism fails in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and rheumatoid arthritis.

A prize committee added, "These discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of research and accelerated the creation of new treatments, for instance for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

In cancer, T-regs block the body from fighting the growth, so research are aimed at reducing their numbers.

For autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing increasing T-reg cells so the organism is not under attack. A comparable approach could also be effective in reducing the risks of organ transplant failure.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, performed experiments on rodents that had their thymus extracted, leading to autoimmune disease.

The researcher showed that introducing immune cells from healthy mice could stop the disease—implying there was a mechanism for preventing defenders from harming the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were investigating an genetic immune disorder in rodents and people that led to the identification of a genetic factor vital for the way T-regs operate.

"The groundbreaking work has revealed how the immune system is kept in check by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," said a leading physiology expert.

"The research is a striking example of how basic biological research can have broad consequences for human health."