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The prestigious award in medical science has been awarded for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the immune system attacks dangerous pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed researchers—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and US scientists Mary Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.

Their work uncovered specialized "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate rogue defense cells that could attacking the organism.

The findings are now enabling new therapies for immune disorders and cancer.

The winners will divide a monetary award valued at 11m Swedish kronor.

Decisive Findings

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

This trio's research explain a core question: How does the immune system defend us from countless invaders while leaving our own tissues unharmed?

Our body's protection system uses immune cells that search for signs of infection, including viruses and bacteria it has not met before.

Such defenders employ sensors—known as recognition units—that are generated randomly in a vast number of variations.

This gives the defense network the capacity to combat a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process inevitably produces white blood cells that may attack the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

Researchers earlier understood that some of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the thymus—the site where white blood cells develop.

The latest award honors the identification of T-reg cells—described as the body's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the body to disarm other immune cells that assault the healthy cells.

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

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

In malignancies, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from fighting the growth, so studies are focused on lowering their quantity.

For self-attack disorders, trials are exploring boosting regulatory T-cells so the organism is not under attack. A comparable approach could also be effective in minimizing the chances of transplanted organ failure.

Pioneering Studies

Professor Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, conducted experiments on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, causing autoimmune disease.

He showed that introducing defense cells from other animals could stop the illness—suggesting there was a system for preventing defenders from attacking the host.

Mary Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were studying an genetic autoimmune disease in mice and people that led to the discovery of a gene vital for the way T-regs operate.

"Their pioneering research has revealed how the immune system is controlled by regulatory T cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the body's own tissues," said a leading biological science expert.

"This research is a striking example of how fundamental physiological study can have broad consequences for public health."