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The prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for transformative findings that clarify how the body's defense network attacks dangerous pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.

Three renowned researchers—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this honor.

Their work uncovered unique "sentinels" within the defense system that eliminate malfunctioning defense cells capable of harming the organism.

These discoveries are now enabling new therapies for immune disorders and cancer.

The winners will divide a monetary award valued at 11m Swedish kronor.

Crucial Findings

"Their research has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses operates and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the award panel.

This trio's studies explain a core question: In what way does the immune system protect us from countless invaders while keeping our own tissues unharmed?

The immune system employs immune cells that search for indicators of infection, even viruses and germs it has not met before.

Such defenders employ sensors—called receptors—that are generated by chance in countless variations.

That provides the immune system the capacity to fight a wide array of invaders, but the randomness of the mechanism inevitably produces immune cells that can target the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

Scientists previously knew that some of these harmful defense cells were destroyed in the immune organ—the site where immune cells develop.

This year's Nobel Prize honors the identification of T-reg cells—known as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the system to disarm other immune cells that assault the healthy cells.

It is known that this process fails in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

A prize committee stated, "These findings have established a novel area of investigation and spurred the creation of innovative therapies, for example for cancer and immune disorders."

Regarding malignancies, T-regs prevent the body from attacking the tumor, so studies are focused on reducing their numbers.

For autoimmune diseases, experiments are exploring boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is not being harmed. A similar method could also be useful in minimizing the chances of organ transplant failure.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed tests on mice that had their immune gland removed, causing autoimmune disease.

He demonstrated that introducing defense cells from healthy mice could stop the illness—implying there was a system for preventing defenders from attacking the body.

Mary Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were studying an inherited autoimmune disease in rodents and people that led to the identification of a gene critical for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"The groundbreaking research has revealed how the body's defenses is kept in check by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly targeting the body's own tissues," commented a leading physiology specialist.

"This research is a striking illustration of how fundamental biological research can have far-reaching implications for human health."