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This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was granted for transformative discoveries that illuminate how the immune system targets dangerous pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.

Three renowned researchers—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and American experts Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this accolade.

Their work uncovered unique "sentinels" within the defense system that remove rogue defense cells that could attacking the organism.

These discoveries are now paving the way for new therapies for immune disorders and cancer.

These winners will share a prize fund valued at 11 million Swedish kronor.

Decisive Discoveries

"Their work has been decisive for comprehending how the body's defenses functions and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the award panel.

The trio's research explain a fundamental mystery: In what way does the immune system defend us from countless infections while leaving our own tissues unharmed?

The body's protection system employs immune cells that scan for signs of disease, including viruses and germs it has never encountered.

These cells utilize sensors—known as receptors—that are produced randomly in countless combinations.

This provides the immune system the capacity to fight a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the mechanism inevitably creates immune cells that may target the body.

Protectors of the Immune System

Scientists previously knew that a portion of these harmful defense cells were eliminated in the immune organ—where immune cells develop.

This year's award recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—known as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the system to neutralize other immune cells that assault the body's own tissues.

It is known that this mechanism malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

A prize committee added, "These discoveries have laid the foundation for a novel area of research and accelerated the development of innovative treatments, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding malignancies, T-regs prevent the system from attacking the growth, so research are focused on lowering their numbers.

In self-attack disorders, trials are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the body is no longer being harmed. A comparable method could also be useful in reducing the chances of organ transplant failure.

Innovative Experiments

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed experiments on mice that had their thymus extracted, causing self-attack conditions.

The researcher demonstrated that introducing immune cells from healthy mice could prevent the disease—implying there was a system for blocking immune cells from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in a California city, were investigating an genetic autoimmune disease in rodents and people that led to the identification of a gene critical for the way regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their groundbreaking work has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by T-reg cells, preventing it from accidentally attacking the body's own tissues," commented a leading biological science specialist.

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