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This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network targets harmful infections while sparing the body's own cells.

A trio of esteemed scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American experts Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this honor.

The research uncovered unique "sentinels" within the defense system that remove rogue defense cells that could harming the body.

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

The winners will share a monetary award worth 11 million SEK.

Decisive Findings

"Their research has been essential for understanding how the body's defenses operates and why we do not all develop serious self-attack conditions," stated the head of the award panel.

This team's research explain a fundamental mystery: How does the defense system protect us from countless infections while leaving our own tissues unharmed?

The body's protection system uses white blood cells that scan for signs of infection, including pathogens and germs it has never encountered.

Such cells employ sensors—known as receptors—that are produced randomly in countless variations.

That gives the defense network the ability to fight a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the mechanism inevitably produces immune cells that may attack the body.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Researchers previously knew that some of these problematic defense cells were destroyed in the thymus—where white blood cells develop.

The latest Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of T-reg cells—known as the immune system's "security guards"—which travel through the body to neutralize other immune cells that assault the body's own tissues.

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

The Nobel panel stated, "The findings have laid the foundation for a new field of research and spurred the creation of innovative therapies, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

In cancer, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from fighting the growth, so studies are focused on reducing their numbers.

For self-attack disorders, experiments are exploring boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is no longer under attack. A similar approach could also be useful in minimizing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Innovative Experiments

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, performed tests on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, leading to autoimmune disease.

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

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were investigating an inherited autoimmune disease in rodents and humans that led to the identification of a genetic factor vital for how regulatory T-cells function.

"Their groundbreaking work has revealed how the immune system is kept in check by T-reg cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," said a leading physiology expert.

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