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This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for revolutionary discoveries that illuminate how the immune system targets dangerous infections while protecting the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this accolade.

The work uncovered specialized "security guards" within the defense system that remove malfunctioning immune cells that could attacking the organism.

These discoveries are now enabling innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

The winners will share a monetary award worth 11m SEK.

Decisive Discoveries

"The research has been essential for understanding how the immune system functions and the reason we don't all develop serious autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the award panel.

The trio's research address a core mystery: How does the defense system protect us from countless invaders while keeping our own tissues intact?

The body's protection system uses white blood cells that search for signs of infection, including viruses and bacteria it has never encountered.

These defenders employ sensors—called receptors—that are generated randomly in countless variations.

This provides the defense network the ability to combat a wide array of invaders, but the randomness of the mechanism inevitably produces white blood cells that may attack the host.

Protectors of the Body

Researchers previously understood that a portion of these harmful defense cells were destroyed in the thymus—the site where white blood cells mature.

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

We know that this mechanism malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and RA.

A prize committee stated, "The findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of research and accelerated the creation of innovative treatments, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

In malignancies, T-regs block the body from attacking the growth, so studies are aimed at lowering their numbers.

In self-attack disorders, trials are exploring boosting T-reg cells so the organism is not under attack. A similar method could also be effective in minimizing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Innovative Experiments

Prof Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, performed experiments on mice that had their immune gland extracted, leading to autoimmune disease.

The researcher showed that introducing immune cells from other mice could prevent the disease—suggesting there was a system for blocking immune cells from harming the host.

Dr. Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in a California city, were investigating an inherited immune disorder in rodents and humans that led to the discovery of a gene critical for how regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their pioneering work has revealed how the immune system is kept in check by regulatory T cells, stopping it from accidentally attacking the body's own tissues," said a prominent biological science expert.

"This research is a striking example of how basic physiological research can have far-reaching implications for public health."