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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for revolutionary findings that illuminate how the immune system targets harmful infections while protecting the body's own cells.

A trio of renowned scientists—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and American scientists Mary Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this accolade.

The research uncovered specialized "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate rogue immune cells capable of attacking the body.

These discoveries are now paving the way for innovative treatments for immune disorders and malignancies.

These winners will divide a monetary award valued at 11 million Swedish kronor.

Decisive Discoveries

"Their research has been decisive for understanding how the immune system functions and why we don't all develop severe self-attack conditions," stated the chair of the award panel.

The team's research address a fundamental question: How does the defense system defend us from numerous infections while leaving our own tissues intact?

Our body's protection system employs white blood cells that scan for signs of infection, including viruses and germs it has never encountered.

These defenders utilize sensors—known as recognition units—that are generated by chance in countless combinations.

That gives the immune system the capacity to combat a wide array of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process unavoidably creates white blood cells that can attack the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

Researchers earlier understood that some of these harmful defense cells were eliminated in the immune organ—the site where white blood cells develop.

This year's award recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which travel through the body to neutralize any immune cells that assault the healthy cells.

It is known that this process fails in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The prize committee added, "These discoveries have laid the foundation for a novel area of research and spurred the development of new therapies, for instance for cancer and immune disorders."

In cancer, T-regs block the system from attacking the tumor, so research are aimed at reducing their quantity.

In self-attack disorders, experiments are testing increasing T-reg cells so the body is not being harmed. A similar method could also be useful in minimizing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, performed experiments on rodents that had their thymus extracted, leading to self-attack conditions.

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

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were investigating an inherited autoimmune disease in mice and humans that resulted in the discovery of a genetic factor critical for how T-regs function.

"Their groundbreaking work has uncovered how the immune system is kept in check by regulatory T cells, stopping it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," commented a leading physiology specialist.

"This research is a striking illustration of how fundamental biological study can have far-reaching consequences for human health."