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The Nobel Prize in medical science has been granted for transformative findings that illuminate how the body's defense network targets dangerous pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

Three renowned researchers—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and US experts Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this honor.

The work identified unique "sentinels" within the immune system that eliminate malfunctioning defense cells capable of harming the body.

The discoveries are now enabling new therapies for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

The laureates will share a prize fund worth 11m SEK.

Decisive Findings

"Their research has been essential for comprehending how the body's defenses functions and the reason we don't all develop serious self-attack conditions," commented the head of the award panel.

The trio's studies address a fundamental mystery: How does the defense system protect us from countless infections while keeping our healthy cells intact?

Our body's protection system uses white blood cells that scan for signs of disease, including pathogens and bacteria it has never encountered.

Such cells employ detectors—called receptors—that are generated randomly in countless combinations.

That provides the immune system the ability to fight a wide array of invaders, but the randomness of the mechanism unavoidably produces immune cells that can attack the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Scientists previously knew that a portion of these problematic white blood cells were destroyed in the thymus—the site where white blood cells mature.

This year's award honors the discovery of T-reg cells—known as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the body to disarm any defenders that assault the healthy cells.

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

The prize committee added, "These discoveries have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and accelerated the development of new treatments, for instance for cancer and immune disorders."

In cancer, regulatory T-cells block the body from fighting the growth, so studies are aimed at reducing their quantity.

In autoimmune diseases, experiments are exploring increasing regulatory T-cells so the body is not under attack. A similar approach could also be useful in minimizing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Innovative Experiments

Prof Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed tests on rodents that had their immune gland removed, leading to self-attack conditions.

He demonstrated that introducing defense cells from other mice could stop the illness—implying there was a mechanism for blocking immune cells from attacking the body.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were investigating an genetic immune disorder in mice and humans that led to the identification of a gene vital for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"The groundbreaking work has uncovered how the immune system is controlled by T-reg cells, stopping it from accidentally targeting the healthy cells," said a prominent biological science specialist.

"The research is a remarkable illustration of how fundamental biological study can have broad implications for public health."