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The Nobel Prize in medical science was awarded for revolutionary discoveries that illuminate how the immune system attacks dangerous pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.

The work uncovered specialized "sentinels" within the defense system that remove malfunctioning defense cells capable of harming the body.

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

The winners will divide a prize fund worth 11m SEK.

Crucial Findings

"Their research has been essential for understanding how the body's defenses functions and the reason we do not all suffer from serious autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

This trio's research address a fundamental mystery: In what way does the immune system protect us from numerous infections while leaving our own tissues unharmed?

Our immune system employs white blood cells that search for indicators of disease, including viruses and germs it has not met before.

Such defenders employ detectors—called recognition units—that are generated by chance in countless variations.

This provides the immune system the capacity to combat a broad range of threats, but the unpredictability of the process unavoidably creates immune cells that can attack the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

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

This year's award recognizes the identification of regulatory T-cells—known as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the body to disarm other immune cells that attack the body's own tissues.

It is known that this mechanism fails in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and RA.

A prize committee added, "These findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of research and spurred the creation of innovative therapies, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding malignancies, T-regs prevent the body from attacking the growth, so research are aimed at lowering their numbers.

In self-attack disorders, experiments are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the organism is no longer under attack. A comparable method could also be useful in reducing the risks of organ transplant failure.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, performed tests on mice that had their immune gland extracted, leading to autoimmune disease.

The researcher showed that injecting defense cells from healthy animals could prevent the disease—suggesting there was a system for blocking immune cells from harming the host.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were studying an genetic immune disorder in mice and people that led to the identification of a gene critical for how regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their groundbreaking research has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by regulatory T cells, stopping it from accidentally targeting the body's own tissues," commented a leading biological science specialist.

"The research is a striking illustration of how basic physiological research can have far-reaching implications for human health."