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

Three renowned researchers—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this accolade.

The research identified specialized "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate malfunctioning defense cells capable of harming the organism.

The discoveries are now paving the way for innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

These laureates will divide a monetary award valued at 11m Swedish kronor.

Decisive Discoveries

"Their work has been essential for understanding how the body's defenses functions and why we do not all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the award panel.

This trio's studies address a fundamental question: How does the defense system protect us from numerous infections while leaving our own tissues unharmed?

The immune system employs immune cells that search for signs of disease, including pathogens and bacteria it has never encountered.

Such defenders employ sensors—called recognition units—that are generated by chance in a vast number of variations.

This provides the defense network the capacity to fight a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the process unavoidably creates white blood cells that may attack the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

Scientists previously understood that a portion of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the immune organ—the site where immune cells develop.

The latest Nobel Prize honors the identification of T-reg cells—described as the immune system's "security guards"—which patrol the body to neutralize other defenders that assault the healthy cells.

It is known that this mechanism fails in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and RA.

A prize committee stated, "The discoveries have established a novel area of investigation and accelerated the creation of new treatments, for instance for tumors and immune disorders."

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

For autoimmune diseases, experiments are exploring increasing regulatory T-cells so the body is not under attack. A comparable method could also be effective in reducing the chances of transplanted organ failure.

Pioneering Experiments

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

He showed that injecting defense cells from healthy mice could prevent the illness—implying there was a mechanism for blocking defenders from attacking the body.

Dr. Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were studying an inherited immune disorder in rodents and people that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor critical for how T-regs operate.

"The pioneering work has uncovered how the immune system is controlled by regulatory T cells, preventing it from accidentally targeting the healthy cells," said a leading physiology expert.

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