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This year's prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine has been granted for revolutionary findings that clarify how the body's defense network targets harmful pathogens while sparing the body's own cells.

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

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

These findings are now enabling innovative therapies for immune disorders and cancer.

These winners will share a prize fund valued at 11 million Swedish kronor.

Decisive Discoveries

"The research has been essential for understanding how the body's defenses operates and why we do not all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," stated the chair of the Nobel Committee.

The trio's studies explain a fundamental mystery: How does the defense system protect us from countless infections while leaving our healthy cells unharmed?

The immune system uses white blood cells that search for signs of disease, including pathogens and bacteria it has not met before.

These defenders employ detectors—known as recognition units—that are generated randomly in a vast number of combinations.

That provides the defense network the capacity to fight a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the process unavoidably produces immune cells that can target the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Scientists previously understood that a portion of these problematic defense cells were destroyed in the immune organ—where immune cells mature.

This year's award recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—known as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the body to disarm other immune cells that assault the healthy cells.

We know that this process malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

The prize committee stated, "These discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of investigation and accelerated the creation of new treatments, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

In malignancies, regulatory T-cells prevent the body from fighting the growth, so research are focused on reducing their numbers.

For autoimmune diseases, trials are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the organism is not being harmed. A similar approach could also be useful in minimizing the chances of transplanted organ rejection.

Innovative Experiments

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, conducted tests on rodents that had their immune gland removed, leading to self-attack conditions.

He demonstrated that introducing immune cells from other mice could prevent the illness—implying there was a mechanism for preventing defenders from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in a California city, were investigating an genetic immune disorder in rodents and people that led to the identification of a genetic factor vital for how T-regs function.

"The groundbreaking research has uncovered how the body's defenses is controlled by T-reg cells, preventing it from mistakenly targeting the healthy cells," commented a leading physiology specialist.

"The work is a remarkable illustration of how basic physiological study can have broad implications for human health."