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The prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for transformative findings that clarify how the immune system attacks harmful infections while sparing the body's own cells.

A trio of renowned researchers—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and US experts Mary Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this accolade.

Their research uncovered unique "sentinels" within the defense system that eliminate malfunctioning defense cells that could attacking the organism.

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

The laureates will share a monetary award valued at 11m Swedish kronor.

Crucial Discoveries

"Their research has been essential for understanding how the immune system operates and the reason we don't all suffer from serious autoimmune diseases," stated the chair of the award panel.

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 intact?

The immune system uses white blood cells that search for indicators of disease, including viruses and germs it has never encountered.

Such cells employ detectors—called recognition units—that are produced randomly in countless combinations.

This provides the immune system the capacity to combat a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the mechanism unavoidably produces immune cells that can attack the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Scientists earlier knew that a portion of these problematic white blood cells were eliminated in the thymus—where immune cells develop.

This year's award recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "security guards"—which patrol the system to neutralize other immune cells that assault the healthy cells.

We know that this mechanism malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The Nobel panel stated, "These findings have established a new field of research and accelerated the development of new treatments, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding cancer, T-regs block the system from attacking the growth, so research are focused on reducing their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the organism is no longer under attack. A comparable approach could also be effective in minimizing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Innovative Studies

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

The researcher demonstrated that introducing defense cells from healthy animals could prevent the illness—implying there was a system for blocking defenders from harming the body.

Dr. Brunkow, from the a research center in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were investigating an inherited immune disorder in rodents and humans that led to the discovery of a genetic factor critical for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"The groundbreaking research has uncovered how the immune system is kept in check by T-reg cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," commented a leading biological science specialist.

"This research is a remarkable example of how fundamental biological research can have far-reaching consequences for human health."