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This year's prestigious award in medical science has been awarded for revolutionary findings that illuminate how the immune system attacks dangerous infections while protecting the body's own cells.

A trio of renowned scientists—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and American experts Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.

Their work identified unique "sentinels" within the immune system that eliminate rogue immune cells that could attacking the organism.

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

These laureates will divide a prize fund worth 11 million SEK.

Decisive Discoveries

"The research has been essential for understanding how the immune system functions and the reason we do not all suffer from serious autoimmune diseases," commented the chair of the Nobel Committee.

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

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

Such cells employ sensors—known as receptors—that are generated by chance in countless variations.

That gives the defense network the capacity to combat a wide array of invaders, but the randomness of the process inevitably creates white blood cells that can attack the body.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Researchers previously knew that some of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the immune organ—the site where white blood cells mature.

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

It is known that this mechanism malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The prize committee stated, "These findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and spurred the development of new treatments, for example for tumors and immune disorders."

Regarding cancer, T-regs block the body from attacking the tumor, so research are aimed at lowering their numbers.

In self-attack disorders, experiments are exploring boosting regulatory T-cells so the organism is not under attack. A similar method could also be useful in reducing the risks of organ transplant failure.

Pioneering Studies

Prof Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, performed experiments on mice that had their immune gland extracted, leading to autoimmune disease.

He demonstrated that injecting immune cells from healthy animals could prevent the disease—implying there was a mechanism for preventing defenders from harming the body.

Dr. Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were investigating an genetic immune disorder in rodents and people that led to the identification of a gene critical for how regulatory T-cells operate.

"The pioneering research has uncovered how the body's defenses is kept in check by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly targeting the body's own tissues," commented a leading biological science specialist.

"This work is a remarkable example of how fundamental biological study can have far-reaching consequences for human health."