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The prestigious award in medical science has been granted for transformative findings that clarify how the body's defense network attacks dangerous infections while protecting the body's own cells.

Three esteemed scientists—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and US experts Mary Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.

The work identified unique "security guards" within the immune system that remove malfunctioning defense cells capable of attacking the body.

The findings are now paving the way for new therapies for immune disorders and malignancies.

The winners will share a prize fund valued at 11m SEK.

Crucial Discoveries

"The research has been essential for understanding how the body's defenses operates and the reason we do not all suffer from serious autoimmune diseases," stated the head of the Nobel Committee.

The team's research address a fundamental mystery: How does the defense system defend us from countless infections while leaving our healthy cells unharmed?

The immune system uses immune cells that scan for indicators of disease, even pathogens and germs it has never encountered.

Such defenders utilize sensors—called recognition units—that are generated by chance in countless variations.

That provides the defense network the capacity to combat a wide array of threats, but the unpredictability of the mechanism unavoidably creates immune cells that can target the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

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

This year's award honors the identification of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the system to disarm other immune cells that attack the healthy cells.

It is known that this process fails in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and RA.

A prize committee added, "The findings have established a novel area of investigation and accelerated the creation of innovative therapies, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

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

In autoimmune diseases, experiments are exploring increasing regulatory T-cells so the body is no longer under attack. A similar method could also be effective in minimizing the risks of transplanted organ failure.

Innovative Studies

Professor Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed experiments on mice that had their immune gland removed, leading to autoimmune disease.

He demonstrated that introducing immune cells from other animals could prevent the disease—implying there was a system for preventing immune cells from harming the body.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were studying an genetic autoimmune disease in rodents and humans that led to the discovery of a gene critical for how T-regs function.

"The pioneering work has revealed how the body's defenses is kept in check by regulatory T cells, preventing it from accidentally targeting the body's own tissues," commented a leading biological science specialist.

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