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This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been granted for transformative discoveries that clarify how the immune system attacks dangerous pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

Three renowned researchers—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and US experts Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this honor.

The work identified unique "security guards" within the defense system that eliminate rogue immune cells that could harming the body.

The discoveries are now paving the way for new treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

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

Crucial Discoveries

"The work has been essential for comprehending how the immune system functions and the reason we don't all develop serious autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

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

Our immune system employs immune cells that search for indicators of disease, including viruses and bacteria it has never encountered.

These defenders employ sensors—called recognition units—that are generated by chance in a vast number of variations.

That provides the immune system the ability to combat a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the process inevitably creates white blood cells that can attack the body.

Security Guards of the Body

Scientists earlier understood that some of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the immune organ—where immune cells develop.

The latest Nobel Prize honors the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "security guards"—which travel through the system to disarm any defenders that attack the body's own tissues.

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

A prize committee added, "These findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of research and spurred the development of innovative therapies, for example for cancer and immune disorders."

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

In autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing increasing regulatory T-cells so the organism is not under attack. A comparable method could also be useful in minimizing the risks of organ transplant rejection.

Pioneering Studies

Professor Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, conducted tests on mice that had their thymus removed, leading to self-attack conditions.

He showed that injecting defense cells from other animals could stop the disease—suggesting there was a mechanism for blocking immune cells from harming the body.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were investigating an genetic immune disorder in rodents and humans that resulted in the discovery of a genetic factor vital for how regulatory T-cells operate.

"The groundbreaking work has uncovered how the immune system is kept in check by T-reg cells, stopping it from accidentally targeting the body's own tissues," commented a leading biological science specialist.

"This research is a striking illustration of how basic physiological study can have far-reaching consequences for public health."