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The prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for revolutionary discoveries that illuminate how the immune system attacks dangerous infections while protecting the body's own cells.

Three renowned researchers—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and US experts Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.

The research uncovered unique "sentinels" within the defense system that remove rogue defense cells capable of attacking the body.

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

The laureates will divide a prize fund valued at 11m Swedish kronor.

Crucial Findings

"The research has been decisive for understanding how the immune system functions and the reason we do not all develop serious self-attack conditions," commented the chair of the award panel.

The team's research explain a fundamental question: How does the defense system protect us from numerous infections while keeping our own tissues intact?

Our body's protection system employs white blood cells that scan for signs of disease, including pathogens and bacteria it has never encountered.

These cells utilize detectors—called receptors—that are generated by chance in a vast number of combinations.

This gives the defense network the ability to fight a broad range of invaders, but the randomness of the process unavoidably produces white blood cells that may attack the host.

Security Guards of the Immune System

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

This year's award recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which travel through the system to neutralize any immune cells that assault the body's own tissues.

It is known that this process malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and RA.

The Nobel panel added, "The findings have laid the foundation for a new field of investigation and accelerated the creation of new therapies, for instance for cancer and immune disorders."

In cancer, T-regs block the system from fighting the tumor, so studies are focused on reducing their numbers.

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

Pioneering Experiments

Prof Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, performed tests on rodents that had their thymus removed, leading to self-attack conditions.

He showed that introducing defense cells from healthy animals could stop the disease—implying there was a mechanism for blocking immune cells from attacking the body.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were investigating an genetic immune disorder in rodents and people that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor critical for how T-regs function.

"Their pioneering research has uncovered how the body's defenses is kept in check by T-reg cells, preventing it from accidentally targeting the body's own tissues," commented a prominent physiology specialist.

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