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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for revolutionary findings that illuminate how the immune system attacks dangerous pathogens while sparing the body's own cells.

A trio of renowned scientists—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and American experts Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this honor.

Their work identified unique "security guards" within the defense system that remove rogue defense cells that could harming the organism.

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

The laureates will divide a prize fund valued at 11 million Swedish kronor.

Decisive Findings

"The work has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses operates and why we do not all develop severe self-attack conditions," stated the chair of the Nobel Committee.

This team's studies address a core mystery: In what way does the immune system defend us from numerous invaders while leaving our own tissues unharmed?

The body's protection system uses immune cells that scan for indicators of infection, including viruses and germs it has not met before.

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

That provides the immune system the capacity to fight a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the process inevitably produces white blood cells that can target the body.

Protectors of the Immune System

Researchers previously knew that a portion of these problematic defense cells were destroyed in the immune organ—the site where immune cells mature.

This year's award recognizes the identification of T-reg cells—known as the body's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the body to disarm other immune cells that assault the healthy cells.

We know that this process malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The prize committee stated, "The findings have established a new field of research and spurred the creation of innovative therapies, for instance for tumors and immune disorders."

In malignancies, regulatory T-cells block the system from attacking the tumor, so studies are focused on reducing their numbers.

For self-attack disorders, trials are testing increasing T-reg cells so the body is not being harmed. A comparable method could also be useful in reducing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Innovative Experiments

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, conducted tests on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, leading to self-attack conditions.

The researcher demonstrated that introducing defense cells from healthy animals could prevent the illness—implying there was a mechanism for preventing immune cells from attacking the host.

Mary Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were studying an genetic immune disorder in rodents and humans that resulted in the identification of a gene vital for the way T-regs function.

"Their pioneering research has revealed how the immune system is controlled by regulatory T cells, stopping it from accidentally targeting the healthy cells," said a leading biological science expert.

"This work is a remarkable illustration of how basic physiological study can have far-reaching consequences for human health."