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This year's Nobel Prize in medical science has been granted for transformative findings that illuminate how the immune system attacks dangerous infections while sparing the body's own cells.

Three esteemed researchers—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and American experts Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this honor.

The research identified unique "security guards" within the immune system that remove rogue immune cells capable of harming the organism.

The discoveries are now enabling innovative therapies for immune disorders and malignancies.

These laureates will share a prize fund worth 11 million Swedish kronor.

Decisive Discoveries

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

The trio's studies explain a fundamental question: In what way does the immune system protect us from countless infections while keeping our healthy cells unharmed?

Our body's protection system employs immune cells that search for signs of disease, including pathogens and bacteria it has not met before.

These defenders utilize detectors—known as recognition units—that are generated randomly in countless combinations.

This provides the defense network the ability to combat a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the mechanism unavoidably produces immune cells that may attack the body.

Protectors of the Immune System

Researchers previously understood that a portion of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the thymus—where white blood cells mature.

The latest award recognizes the discovery of T-reg cells—described as the body's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the body to disarm other defenders that attack the body's own tissues.

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

The Nobel panel added, "These findings have established a new field of research and spurred the development of new therapies, for instance for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

In cancer, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from attacking the growth, so research are focused on reducing their quantity.

In autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is not under attack. A similar approach could also be effective in minimizing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Pioneering Studies

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed experiments on rodents that had their thymus removed, leading to self-attack conditions.

The researcher showed that introducing immune cells from other animals could prevent the illness—implying there was a system for blocking immune cells from harming the body.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were studying an genetic autoimmune disease in mice and people that resulted in the discovery of a genetic factor vital for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"Their pioneering research has revealed how the immune system is controlled by regulatory T cells, preventing it from accidentally attacking the body's own tissues," commented a prominent biological science expert.

"The work is a striking illustration of how fundamental physiological research can have broad implications for human health."