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The prestigious award in medical science has been granted for revolutionary discoveries that illuminate how the body's defense network attacks dangerous pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed researchers—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and American experts Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this honor.

Their work identified specialized "sentinels" within the defense system that remove rogue immune cells that could attacking the body.

These discoveries are now enabling innovative treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

These laureates will share a prize fund worth 11 million Swedish kronor.

Decisive Discoveries

"Their work has been decisive for comprehending how the body's defenses functions and why we don't all develop serious self-attack conditions," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

The trio's research explain a fundamental mystery: In what way does the immune system defend us from numerous invaders while leaving our healthy cells intact?

The body's protection system uses white blood cells that scan for indicators of disease, even viruses and germs it has never encountered.

These cells utilize detectors—called recognition units—that are generated by chance in a vast number of combinations.

That provides the immune system the ability to fight a wide array of invaders, but the randomness of the mechanism inevitably produces white blood cells that can attack the body.

Security Guards of the Body

Researchers previously understood that a portion of these harmful defense cells were eliminated in the immune organ—the site where immune cells develop.

The latest award recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—known as the immune system's "security guards"—which patrol the body to disarm any immune cells that attack the healthy cells.

It is known that this mechanism malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and RA.

The Nobel panel stated, "The discoveries have established a new field of investigation and accelerated the creation of innovative treatments, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

In malignancies, T-regs prevent the system from attacking the tumor, so research are focused on lowering their quantity.

In self-attack disorders, trials are exploring increasing regulatory T-cells so the body is no longer being harmed. A similar approach could also be effective in minimizing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Innovative Studies

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

He demonstrated that introducing immune cells from healthy mice could stop the illness—implying there was a system for blocking immune cells from harming the body.

Dr. Brunkow, from the a research center in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were studying an genetic immune disorder in mice and people that resulted in the identification of a gene critical for the way T-regs function.

"Their groundbreaking work has uncovered how the immune system is kept in check by regulatory T cells, stopping it from mistakenly targeting the healthy cells," said a prominent biological science expert.

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