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

A trio of renowned scientists—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.

The work uncovered specialized "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate malfunctioning immune cells capable of attacking the body.

The discoveries are now enabling new treatments for immune disorders and cancer.

These winners will divide a prize fund valued at 11 million Swedish kronor.

Decisive Findings

"Their work has been essential for understanding how the body's defenses operates and the reason we do not all suffer from serious self-attack conditions," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

The team's research address a core mystery: In what way does the immune system defend us from countless infections while keeping our healthy cells unharmed?

The immune system uses white blood cells that search for signs of disease, even viruses and germs it has not met before.

These cells utilize detectors—known as receptors—that are generated by chance in a vast number of variations.

That provides the defense network the capacity to fight a wide array of threats, but the unpredictability of the mechanism inevitably produces white blood cells that may attack the host.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Scientists previously knew that a portion of these problematic white blood cells were destroyed in the thymus—where white blood cells mature.

The latest Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—known as the body's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the body to neutralize any immune cells that attack the healthy cells.

We know that this process fails in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and RA.

The prize committee added, "These discoveries have laid the foundation for a novel area of research and accelerated the creation of innovative therapies, for instance for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

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

For self-attack disorders, trials are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the organism is no longer being harmed. A similar approach could also be effective in reducing the risks of organ transplant failure.

Innovative Experiments

Prof Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, conducted tests on rodents that had their immune gland removed, leading to autoimmune disease.

The researcher showed that injecting defense cells from other mice could stop the disease—suggesting there was a mechanism for preventing defenders from harming the body.

Dr. Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were investigating an genetic immune disorder in mice and people that led to the discovery of a gene vital for the way regulatory T-cells operate.

"The groundbreaking work has revealed how the body's defenses is kept in check by T-reg cells, preventing it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," said a prominent biological science expert.

"The work is a striking illustration of how fundamental physiological study can have far-reaching consequences for human health."