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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been granted for transformative discoveries that illuminate how the immune system targets dangerous pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed scientists—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this accolade.

The work identified specialized "sentinels" within the defense system that eliminate malfunctioning defense cells that could harming the body.

These discoveries are now enabling new therapies for immune disorders and malignancies.

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

Decisive Findings

"Their research has been essential for understanding how the body's defenses operates and why we do not all develop severe self-attack conditions," commented the chair of the Nobel Committee.

The trio's studies explain a core question: In what way does the defense system defend us from numerous infections while leaving our own tissues unharmed?

The immune system employs immune cells that scan for signs of infection, even pathogens and germs it has never encountered.

Such cells utilize sensors—called receptors—that are produced randomly in a vast number of combinations.

That gives the defense network the ability to fight a broad range of threats, but the unpredictability of the mechanism unavoidably creates immune cells that may target the body.

Protectors of the Immune System

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

This year's award recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "security guards"—which travel through the body to neutralize any defenders that assault the body's own tissues.

It is known that this process fails in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The prize committee stated, "The findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and accelerated the development of innovative therapies, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding cancer, regulatory T-cells prevent the body from fighting the growth, so research are aimed at reducing their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, experiments are exploring boosting regulatory T-cells so the organism is no longer under attack. A comparable method could also be useful in reducing the chances of organ transplant failure.

Pioneering Studies

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, performed experiments on rodents that had their thymus extracted, leading to autoimmune disease.

The researcher showed that introducing defense cells from other mice could stop the illness—implying there was a system for preventing defenders from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were studying an genetic autoimmune disease in mice and humans that led to the identification of a gene vital for how regulatory T-cells operate.

"The groundbreaking research has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," said a leading physiology expert.

"This work is a striking illustration of how fundamental biological research can have broad consequences for human health."