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This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for transformative findings that clarify how the body's defense network attacks harmful pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

A trio of renowned scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American experts Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this honor.

The work identified unique "security guards" within the defense system that eliminate rogue immune cells capable of harming the organism.

The findings are now paving the way for innovative therapies for immune disorders and malignancies.

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

Decisive Findings

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

The team's studies address a core question: How does the immune system protect us from numerous infections while leaving our healthy cells intact?

The body's protection system employs immune cells that scan for indicators of infection, even viruses and germs it has never encountered.

Such cells employ sensors—called receptors—that are produced by chance in a vast number of combinations.

That provides the defense network the ability to combat a wide array of invaders, but the randomness of the mechanism inevitably produces immune cells that may attack the body.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Researchers earlier understood that a portion of these problematic white blood cells were eliminated in the thymus—the site where white blood cells develop.

The latest Nobel Prize recognizes the identification of T-reg cells—known as the immune system's "security guards"—which patrol the body to neutralize other defenders that attack the body's own tissues.

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

A prize committee stated, "The findings have laid the foundation for a new field of investigation and accelerated the development of innovative therapies, for example for tumors and immune disorders."

Regarding cancer, T-regs block the system from attacking the growth, so research are aimed at lowering their quantity.

For autoimmune diseases, trials are exploring boosting T-reg cells so the body is not under attack. A comparable method could also be effective in reducing the chances of transplanted organ rejection.

Innovative Experiments

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, conducted experiments on mice that had their immune gland extracted, causing autoimmune disease.

He demonstrated that introducing defense cells from other animals could prevent the illness—suggesting there was a mechanism for blocking immune cells from attacking the host.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in a California city, were investigating an genetic immune disorder in rodents and humans that led to the identification of a gene critical for the way regulatory T-cells operate.

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

"The work is a remarkable example of how basic biological study can have broad consequences for human health."