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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for transformative discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network attacks harmful pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

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

The work identified specialized "security guards" within the defense system that remove rogue immune cells capable of harming the organism.

The discoveries are now paving the way for innovative treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

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

Decisive Discoveries

"Their research has been essential for comprehending how the body's defenses operates and why we do not all suffer from serious self-attack conditions," stated the head of the Nobel Committee.

This team's studies explain a core mystery: How does the immune system protect us from countless invaders while keeping our own tissues intact?

The body's protection system uses white blood cells that search for indicators of disease, even viruses and bacteria it has never encountered.

These defenders utilize sensors—called receptors—that are generated randomly in a vast number of variations.

That gives the defense network the capacity to fight a wide array of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process inevitably creates white blood cells that may target the body.

Security Guards of the Immune System

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

This year's Nobel Prize recognizes the identification of T-reg cells—described as the body's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the system to disarm other defenders that attack the body's own tissues.

It is known that this mechanism malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The prize committee added, "These discoveries have established a new field of research and spurred the development of innovative therapies, for example for tumors and immune disorders."

In cancer, regulatory T-cells block the system from fighting the growth, so research are aimed at lowering their numbers.

For autoimmune diseases, trials are testing increasing T-reg cells so the organism is no longer under attack. A comparable approach could also be useful in minimizing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed experiments on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, leading to self-attack conditions.

He demonstrated that injecting defense cells from healthy animals could stop the illness—suggesting there was a system for blocking defenders from harming the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were investigating an inherited autoimmune disease in mice and people that led to the discovery of a gene critical for how T-regs operate.

"Their groundbreaking research has revealed how the immune system is controlled by T-reg cells, preventing it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," commented a leading biological science specialist.

"This work is a striking illustration of how basic physiological research can have far-reaching consequences for public health."