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The prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine has been granted for revolutionary discoveries that illuminate how the immune system attacks dangerous pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.

A trio of renowned scientists—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and American experts Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.

The research identified unique "security guards" within the defense system that remove malfunctioning defense cells capable of attacking the organism.

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

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

Decisive Discoveries

"Their work has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses functions and why we do not all suffer from serious self-attack conditions," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

The trio's studies explain a core mystery: In what way does the immune system defend us from numerous invaders while keeping our healthy cells intact?

Our body's protection system employs white blood cells that search for signs of disease, including pathogens and bacteria it has not met before.

Such cells employ detectors—called receptors—that are produced randomly in countless variations.

This provides the immune system the capacity to fight a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process inevitably creates immune cells that may target the host.

Protectors of the Body

Researchers earlier knew that a portion of these problematic white blood cells were eliminated in the thymus—where white blood cells mature.

The latest award honors the discovery of T-reg cells—known as the immune system's "security guards"—which patrol the system to disarm any defenders that assault the healthy cells.

It is known that this process malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and RA.

A prize committee added, "The discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of investigation and accelerated the creation of new therapies, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

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

In autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing increasing regulatory T-cells so the organism is no longer being harmed. A similar approach could also be useful in reducing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Pioneering Studies

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

He demonstrated that injecting defense cells from other mice could prevent the disease—suggesting there was a mechanism for preventing immune cells from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were investigating an inherited autoimmune disease in rodents and people that led to the discovery of a genetic factor vital for how regulatory T-cells function.

"Their pioneering work has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by regulatory T cells, stopping it from accidentally targeting the healthy cells," commented a prominent physiology expert.

"This work is a remarkable illustration of how basic biological research can have broad consequences for public health."