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The prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for transformative discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network attacks harmful infections while sparing the body's own cells.

A trio of renowned scientists—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this accolade.

The research uncovered unique "security guards" within the immune system that remove rogue defense cells capable of harming the body.

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

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

Decisive Discoveries

"Their work has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses operates and why we do not all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," commented the chair of the Nobel Committee.

This team's research address a core question: How does the defense system protect us from countless invaders while leaving our own tissues unharmed?

The body's protection system employs white blood cells that search for indicators of infection, including viruses and germs it has never encountered.

Such defenders employ sensors—known as recognition units—that are generated randomly in countless combinations.

This provides the defense network the capacity to fight a wide array of invaders, but the randomness of the mechanism unavoidably produces white blood cells that can attack the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

Scientists previously knew that some of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the thymus—where white blood cells mature.

The latest Nobel Prize honors the identification of regulatory T-cells—known as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the system to neutralize any defenders that assault the healthy cells.

We know that this mechanism malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The Nobel panel added, "The discoveries have laid the foundation for a novel area of research and spurred the development of new treatments, for example for cancer and immune disorders."

Regarding cancer, T-regs prevent the system from attacking the growth, so studies are focused on reducing their quantity.

For self-attack disorders, trials are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the organism is not being harmed. A comparable approach could also be effective in reducing the risks of organ transplant rejection.

Innovative Studies

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, conducted tests on rodents that had their immune gland removed, leading to self-attack conditions.

He demonstrated that introducing defense cells from other mice could prevent the illness—implying there was a system for preventing immune cells from attacking the host.

Mary Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in a California city, were studying an genetic immune disorder in mice and people that led to the identification of a genetic factor vital for how regulatory T-cells function.

"Their groundbreaking work has revealed how the body's defenses is kept in check by regulatory T cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," commented a leading physiology specialist.

"The research is a striking example of how fundamental biological study can have far-reaching consequences for public health."