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The Nobel Prize in medical science was awarded for revolutionary discoveries that illuminate how the body's defense network targets harmful infections while sparing the body's own cells.

Three renowned researchers—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.

Their work identified unique "sentinels" within the defense system that eliminate rogue immune cells that could harming the organism.

The findings are now enabling innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

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

Decisive Findings

"The research has been essential for understanding how the immune system operates and why we do not all suffer from severe self-attack conditions," commented the head of the award panel.

The team's studies address a fundamental question: How does the immune system protect us from numerous infections while leaving our healthy cells unharmed?

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

These defenders utilize sensors—called recognition units—that are generated randomly in countless variations.

That provides the defense network the ability to fight a wide array of invaders, but the randomness of the mechanism inevitably creates immune cells that may target the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Scientists earlier understood that a portion of these harmful defense cells were destroyed in the immune organ—where white blood cells mature.

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

It is known that this mechanism fails in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

A prize committee stated, "These discoveries have established a novel area of research and accelerated the development of new treatments, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

In malignancies, T-regs block the body from attacking the tumor, so research are focused on lowering their numbers.

For self-attack disorders, trials are testing increasing regulatory T-cells so the body is not under attack. A comparable method could also be useful in minimizing the risks of organ transplant failure.

Pioneering Experiments

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

He showed that introducing immune cells from other mice could stop the illness—suggesting there was a system for preventing defenders from harming the host.

Mary Brunkow, from the a research center in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were studying an genetic autoimmune disease in mice and humans that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor vital for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"Their pioneering work has uncovered how the body's defenses is kept in check by T-reg cells, stopping it from mistakenly targeting the body's own tissues," commented a prominent physiology specialist.

"This work is a remarkable example of how fundamental physiological research can have far-reaching implications for public health."