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This year's Nobel Prize in medical science was granted for transformative discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network targets harmful pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.

Three renowned scientists—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and American experts Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this honor.

The work uncovered specialized "security guards" within the defense system that remove rogue defense cells capable of harming the organism.

These findings are now enabling innovative treatments for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

These laureates will share a prize fund worth 11m SEK.

Crucial Discoveries

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

The team's studies address a fundamental question: How does the immune system protect us from countless invaders while keeping our healthy cells unharmed?

Our body's protection system uses immune cells that scan for indicators of disease, including viruses and germs it has never encountered.

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

This provides the immune system the capacity to combat a wide array of threats, but the unpredictability of the mechanism unavoidably produces white blood cells that can attack the host.

Protectors of the Body

Scientists earlier understood that some of these problematic white blood cells were destroyed in the thymus—the site where immune cells develop.

The latest Nobel Prize honors the identification of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the body to neutralize other immune cells that attack the healthy cells.

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

The Nobel panel stated, "The discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of research and spurred the creation of new treatments, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

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

In self-attack disorders, experiments are testing increasing regulatory T-cells so the organism is not under attack. A comparable method could also be effective in reducing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Innovative Experiments

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

The researcher showed that introducing immune cells from other animals could stop the disease—suggesting there was a system for preventing defenders from harming the body.

Mary Brunkow, from the a research center in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were studying an genetic immune disorder in rodents and humans that led to the identification of a gene vital for the way T-regs operate.

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

"The work is a remarkable illustration of how basic physiological study can have broad consequences for human health."