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This year's prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine has been granted for revolutionary discoveries that illuminate how the immune system targets harmful pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed scientists—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and US experts Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this accolade.

Their work identified unique "security guards" within the defense system that eliminate rogue immune cells capable of harming the body.

The findings are now paving the way for new treatments for immune disorders and malignancies.

The laureates will share a monetary award worth 11m Swedish kronor.

Decisive Findings

"Their research has been essential for understanding how the immune system operates and the reason we don't all develop severe autoimmune diseases," commented the chair of the award panel.

The team's research address a core mystery: How does the defense system defend us from numerous infections while keeping our own tissues intact?

The immune system employs immune cells that scan for signs of infection, including viruses and bacteria it has not met before.

Such defenders employ sensors—called receptors—that are produced randomly in countless combinations.

That provides the defense network the capacity to fight a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process unavoidably creates immune cells that may target the host.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Researchers earlier knew that some of these harmful defense cells were eliminated in the thymus—where white blood cells develop.

This year's Nobel Prize honors the discovery of T-reg cells—known as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the system to neutralize any immune cells that assault the body's own tissues.

We know that this process fails in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The prize committee added, "These findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and spurred the development of innovative therapies, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

In malignancies, regulatory T-cells block the system from fighting the tumor, so research are focused on reducing their numbers.

For self-attack disorders, trials are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the body is not being harmed. A comparable approach could also be useful in reducing the risks of organ transplant rejection.

Pioneering Studies

Professor Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, performed experiments on rodents that had their thymus removed, leading to autoimmune disease.

The researcher showed that introducing immune cells from other mice could stop the disease—suggesting there was a mechanism for preventing defenders from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in a California city, were studying an inherited autoimmune disease in rodents and humans that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor critical for how regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their pioneering work has revealed how the immune system is kept in check by T-reg cells, stopping it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," commented a leading physiology specialist.

"The research is a striking illustration of how basic biological study can have far-reaching consequences for public health."