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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for revolutionary findings that illuminate how the immune system attacks harmful pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed researchers—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and US scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.

The research identified unique "sentinels" within the defense system that eliminate rogue immune cells that could attacking the organism.

The discoveries are now enabling innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

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

Decisive Discoveries

"Their work has been decisive for understanding how the immune system functions and why we do not all develop severe self-attack conditions," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

This team's studies address a core question: In what way does the immune system defend us from countless infections while leaving our healthy cells unharmed?

Our immune system employs immune cells that scan for indicators of disease, including viruses and bacteria it has not met before.

These defenders employ sensors—known as receptors—that are produced by chance in countless variations.

That provides the defense network the capacity to fight a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the process inevitably produces white blood cells that may target the body.

Protectors 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 mature.

This year's Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "security guards"—which patrol the system to neutralize other immune cells 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.

The Nobel panel added, "These discoveries have laid the foundation for a novel area of research and spurred the creation of new therapies, for instance for cancer and immune disorders."

Regarding malignancies, T-regs block the system from fighting the growth, so research are focused on reducing their numbers.

For autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing boosting T-reg cells so the body is not being harmed. A comparable approach could also be useful in minimizing the chances of organ transplant failure.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, conducted tests on rodents that had their thymus extracted, leading to self-attack conditions.

The researcher showed that introducing defense cells from other animals could prevent the illness—implying there was a mechanism for blocking defenders from attacking the body.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were investigating an inherited immune disorder in rodents and humans that led to the discovery of a gene critical for the way T-regs operate.

"Their groundbreaking research has uncovered how the immune system is kept in check by regulatory T cells, preventing it from accidentally targeting the body's own tissues," said a leading biological science specialist.

"The work is a remarkable illustration of how fundamental physiological research can have far-reaching implications for public health."