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This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for transformative discoveries that clarify how the immune system attacks dangerous pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

Three esteemed scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.

The research uncovered unique "sentinels" within the immune system that remove malfunctioning defense cells that could attacking the body.

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

The laureates will share a prize fund worth 11m SEK.

Decisive Discoveries

"Their research has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses functions and why we do not all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the award panel.

This team's studies explain a core mystery: How does the immune system defend us from numerous infections while leaving our healthy cells intact?

The body's protection system employs white blood cells that search for indicators of infection, including pathogens and germs it has never encountered.

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

That provides the defense network the ability to fight a wide array of threats, but the unpredictability of the process unavoidably creates immune cells that may target the host.

Security Guards of the Body

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

The latest award recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the system to disarm other immune cells that assault the body's own tissues.

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

The prize committee added, "The findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and accelerated the creation of new therapies, for example for tumors and immune disorders."

Regarding cancer, regulatory T-cells prevent the body from attacking the tumor, so studies are aimed at lowering their quantity.

For self-attack disorders, trials are testing boosting T-reg cells so the body is not under attack. A similar approach could also be effective in minimizing the risks of organ transplant failure.

Pioneering Studies

Professor Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, performed experiments on rodents that had their thymus removed, leading to self-attack conditions.

The researcher showed that injecting immune cells from other animals could prevent the illness—implying there was a system for blocking immune cells from attacking the body.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were investigating an inherited immune disorder in mice and humans that led to the identification of a gene vital for the way T-regs operate.

"The pioneering work has revealed how the body's defenses is kept in check by T-reg cells, preventing it from accidentally attacking the body's own tissues," commented a prominent physiology specialist.

"The research is a remarkable illustration of how fundamental biological research can have far-reaching consequences for human health."