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This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the immune system attacks dangerous pathogens while sparing the body's own cells.

A trio of esteemed researchers—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.

Their research identified specialized "security guards" within the immune system that remove rogue defense cells capable of harming the body.

These findings are now enabling new treatments for immune disorders and malignancies.

The laureates will share a monetary award valued at 11m SEK.

Decisive Findings

"Their research has been essential for understanding how the immune system functions and the reason we do not all develop serious self-attack conditions," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

The trio's research address a core question: How does the defense system protect us from countless infections while leaving our own tissues intact?

The body's protection system employs immune cells that search for indicators of disease, even viruses and germs it has not met before.

These cells employ detectors—known as receptors—that are produced randomly in countless variations.

That gives the defense network the capacity to fight a wide array of invaders, but the randomness of the mechanism unavoidably creates immune cells that may attack the host.

Protectors of the Body

Researchers previously knew that some of these problematic white blood cells were eliminated in the thymus—where white blood cells mature.

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

We know that this mechanism malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and RA.

A prize committee added, "The findings have established a novel area of research and spurred the creation of new treatments, for instance for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding malignancies, T-regs prevent the system from fighting the tumor, so studies are aimed at reducing their quantity.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is no longer being harmed. A similar method could also be effective in minimizing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Innovative Studies

Prof Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed tests on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, leading to autoimmune disease.

The researcher showed that injecting immune cells from other mice could prevent the illness—implying there was a system for blocking defenders from harming the body.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in a California city, were studying an inherited immune disorder in rodents and people that led to the discovery of a genetic factor critical for the way regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their pioneering research has uncovered how the body's defenses is kept in check by regulatory T cells, stopping it from accidentally targeting the body's own tissues," said a prominent physiology expert.

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