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This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been granted for revolutionary findings that clarify how the immune system attacks dangerous pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.

Three renowned researchers—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this accolade.

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

The findings are now paving the way for new treatments for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

These laureates will divide a monetary award valued at 11m Swedish kronor.

Decisive Discoveries

"The research has been decisive for comprehending how the body's defenses functions and why we don't all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," stated the chair of the award panel.

This team's studies explain a core mystery: How does the defense system defend us from countless invaders while keeping our own tissues intact?

Our immune system employs white blood cells that search for signs of disease, including pathogens and germs it has never encountered.

These cells employ detectors—called receptors—that are produced by chance in countless combinations.

This provides the immune system the ability to fight a wide array of threats, but the unpredictability of the mechanism inevitably creates white blood cells that may target the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

Researchers previously understood that some of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the thymus—the site where immune cells mature.

The latest Nobel Prize recognizes the identification of T-reg cells—described as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the system to disarm other defenders that assault the body's own tissues.

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

The prize committee stated, "These discoveries have established a new field of research and spurred the creation of new treatments, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

In malignancies, T-regs block the body from fighting the growth, so studies are focused on reducing their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is not being harmed. A comparable method could also be effective in minimizing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, conducted experiments on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, causing self-attack conditions.

The researcher demonstrated that injecting defense cells from healthy mice could stop the disease—implying there was a mechanism for blocking defenders from harming the body.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were investigating an genetic autoimmune disease in mice and people that led to the identification of a gene critical for the way T-regs function.

"Their groundbreaking work has revealed how the immune system is controlled by T-reg cells, preventing it from accidentally targeting the healthy cells," said a leading biological science expert.

"The work is a striking illustration of how basic physiological study can have broad implications for public health."