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This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for revolutionary findings that clarify how the body's defense network attacks dangerous infections while sparing the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed researchers—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this honor.

The work uncovered unique "security guards" within the immune system that remove rogue immune cells that could harming the organism.

These findings are now paving the way for innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

These winners will share a monetary award valued at 11m Swedish kronor.

Decisive Discoveries

"The work has been essential for comprehending how the immune system operates and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

The trio's research address a fundamental mystery: In what way does the immune system defend us from numerous invaders while leaving our healthy cells unharmed?

The body's protection system employs white blood cells that scan for indicators of infection, even viruses and germs it has not met before.

These defenders utilize sensors—known as receptors—that are produced randomly in countless combinations.

This gives the immune system the ability to combat a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process unavoidably produces white blood cells that may target the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

Scientists earlier understood that some of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the thymus—where immune cells develop.

This year's award honors the discovery of regulatory T-cells—known as the immune system's "security guards"—which patrol the body to neutralize other defenders 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.

A Nobel panel stated, "The findings have established a new field of research and accelerated the development of new therapies, for instance for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

In cancer, T-regs prevent the body from fighting the tumor, so studies are aimed at lowering their numbers.

For autoimmune diseases, trials are exploring boosting T-reg cells so the organism is not under attack. A similar approach could also be useful in reducing the risks of organ transplant rejection.

Pioneering Studies

Professor Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, conducted experiments on rodents that had their thymus removed, causing self-attack conditions.

He showed that introducing defense cells from other mice could prevent the disease—implying there was a system for preventing immune cells from harming the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were studying an inherited immune disorder in rodents and humans that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor vital for the way T-regs operate.

"The groundbreaking research has revealed how the immune system is controlled by regulatory T cells, stopping it from accidentally targeting the healthy cells," said a prominent biological science specialist.

"This research is a striking example of how fundamental physiological research can have broad consequences for human health."