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This year's Nobel Prize in medical science has been awarded for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network targets dangerous pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.

A trio of renowned scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American experts Mary Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this accolade.

Their research identified unique "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate rogue defense cells capable of attacking the organism.

These discoveries are now paving the way for new therapies for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

These laureates will share a prize fund valued at 11m SEK.

Crucial Findings

"Their research has been essential for comprehending how the immune system operates and why we don't all develop serious autoimmune diseases," commented the chair of the Nobel Committee.

This team's research explain a fundamental mystery: In what way does the defense system protect us from countless invaders while leaving our healthy cells intact?

Our immune system uses white blood cells that search for indicators of infection, even pathogens and bacteria it has not met before.

Such defenders utilize detectors—called recognition units—that are produced randomly in countless combinations.

That gives the immune system the capacity to fight a broad range of invaders, but the randomness of the mechanism inevitably creates immune cells that can target the body.

Security Guards of the Body

Researchers earlier understood that some of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the thymus—where immune cells mature.

The latest Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the system to disarm any immune cells that attack the healthy cells.

We know that this mechanism malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The prize committee added, "The discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of research and accelerated the development of innovative therapies, for instance for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

In cancer, T-regs prevent the body from attacking the tumor, so research are aimed at reducing their numbers.

In self-attack disorders, experiments are testing increasing regulatory T-cells so the body is no longer under attack. A similar approach could also be effective in reducing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Innovative Experiments

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, performed experiments on mice that had their immune gland removed, causing self-attack conditions.

He demonstrated that injecting defense cells from healthy mice could stop the illness—suggesting there was a mechanism for blocking defenders from attacking the host.

Mary Brunkow, from the a research center in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were studying an inherited immune disorder in rodents and people that led to the identification of a gene critical for how regulatory T-cells operate.

"The pioneering work has revealed how the body's defenses is kept in check by regulatory T cells, preventing it from accidentally attacking the body's own tissues," commented a leading physiology expert.

"This research is a remarkable example of how basic biological study can have far-reaching implications for human health."