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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 harmful pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.

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

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

The discoveries are now enabling innovative treatments for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

These winners will divide a monetary award worth 11m SEK.

Decisive Findings

"The research has been essential for understanding how the immune system operates and the reason we don't all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

This trio's studies address a fundamental mystery: In what way does the defense system defend us from numerous infections while leaving our healthy cells intact?

The body's protection system employs immune cells that scan for indicators of infection, even pathogens and germs it has never encountered.

These cells employ detectors—known as receptors—that are generated randomly in countless combinations.

This gives the immune system the ability to fight a broad range of invaders, but the randomness of the mechanism inevitably creates white blood cells that may attack the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Scientists earlier understood that a portion of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the immune organ—the site where white blood cells develop.

This year's award recognizes the identification of regulatory T-cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which travel through the body to neutralize any immune cells that assault the healthy cells.

It is known that this process fails in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

The prize committee stated, "The findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and spurred the development of innovative treatments, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding malignancies, T-regs block the system from attacking the growth, so studies are aimed at lowering their numbers.

For self-attack disorders, trials are exploring boosting T-reg cells so the organism is no longer under attack. A comparable approach could also be useful in reducing the chances of organ transplant failure.

Pioneering Experiments

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, conducted experiments on rodents that had their thymus extracted, causing autoimmune disease.

He demonstrated that introducing immune cells from healthy mice could prevent the disease—implying there was a system for blocking defenders from attacking the host.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were studying an inherited autoimmune disease in mice and people that led to the identification of a genetic factor vital for how T-regs function.

"Their groundbreaking research has uncovered how the immune system is controlled by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," said a leading biological science expert.

"The research is a remarkable illustration of how basic biological study can have broad consequences for human health."