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The Nobel Prize in medical science has been awarded for revolutionary findings that clarify how the body's defense network targets dangerous pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.

Three renowned scientists—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and American experts Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this honor.

Their work uncovered unique "security guards" within the defense system that remove malfunctioning immune cells capable of harming the body.

The findings are now enabling new treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

These laureates will share a monetary award valued at 11 million SEK.

Decisive Findings

"Their research has been essential for understanding how the immune system functions and why we do not all develop severe self-attack conditions," stated the chair of the Nobel Committee.

This team's research explain a fundamental mystery: In what way does the defense system defend us from numerous invaders while keeping our own tissues unharmed?

Our immune system uses immune cells that scan for signs of infection, even pathogens and bacteria it has not met before.

Such cells utilize sensors—called receptors—that are generated by chance in a vast number of variations.

This gives the immune system the ability to fight a wide array of threats, but the unpredictability of the process inevitably creates immune cells that can target the body.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Researchers previously understood that a portion of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the thymus—where immune cells develop.

The latest award recognizes the identification of T-reg cells—described as the body's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the system to neutralize other immune cells that attack the healthy cells.

We know that this process malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and RA.

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

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

For autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing increasing regulatory T-cells so the body is not being harmed. A comparable method could also be useful in minimizing the chances of transplanted organ failure.

Innovative Studies

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, conducted tests on mice that had their thymus removed, causing self-attack conditions.

The researcher demonstrated that injecting immune cells from other mice could prevent the disease—suggesting there was a system for preventing immune cells from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were studying an genetic immune disorder in mice and people that resulted in the identification of a gene vital for how T-regs function.

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

"The research is a remarkable example of how fundamental physiological research can have far-reaching consequences for human health."