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This year's prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine was granted for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the immune system attacks dangerous infections while protecting the healthy tissues.

A trio of renowned researchers—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this accolade.

The research identified specialized "security guards" within the defense system that remove malfunctioning immune cells that could harming the organism.

The findings are now enabling new therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

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

Crucial Discoveries

"Their work has been essential for comprehending how the body's defenses functions and the reason we don't all suffer from serious autoimmune diseases," stated the chair of the Nobel Committee.

This team's research explain a core question: In what way does the immune system protect us from countless infections while leaving our own tissues intact?

Our body's protection system employs immune cells that search for indicators of disease, including pathogens and germs it has not met before.

Such cells utilize detectors—known as receptors—that are generated by chance in a vast number of variations.

That gives the immune system the ability to combat a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the mechanism inevitably produces white blood cells that can attack the host.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Researchers earlier knew that a portion of these harmful white blood cells were eliminated in the immune organ—where white blood cells develop.

This year's award recognizes the discovery of T-reg cells—known as the body's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the body to neutralize any immune cells that attack the healthy cells.

We know that this mechanism malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

A Nobel panel added, "These discoveries have established a novel area of research and spurred the creation of innovative treatments, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

In malignancies, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from attacking the tumor, so research are aimed at reducing their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are testing boosting T-reg cells so the organism is no longer under attack. A similar approach could also be useful in reducing the risks of organ transplant failure.

Pioneering Studies

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

He demonstrated that introducing defense cells from other mice could prevent the disease—suggesting there was a system for blocking immune cells from harming the host.

Mary Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were investigating an genetic autoimmune disease in mice and humans that led to the discovery of a genetic factor critical for the way T-regs operate.

"The groundbreaking research has revealed how the immune system is controlled by regulatory T cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," commented a prominent physiology specialist.

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