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This year's prestigious award in medical science was granted for transformative discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network attacks dangerous infections while protecting the body's own cells.

Three renowned scientists—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and American scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.

Their research identified specialized "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate malfunctioning immune cells capable of harming the organism.

These discoveries are now enabling innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

The winners will share a monetary award valued at 11m SEK.

Decisive Findings

"Their research has been decisive for understanding how the immune system functions and the reason we do not all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," stated the chair of the award panel.

The team's studies address a fundamental mystery: In what way does the defense system defend us from numerous invaders while leaving our own tissues unharmed?

Our immune system uses white blood cells that search for signs of disease, even viruses and germs it has never encountered.

These cells employ sensors—known as recognition units—that are produced by chance in a vast number of combinations.

That provides the immune system the ability to fight a wide array of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process unavoidably creates white blood cells that can target the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

Scientists earlier understood that a portion of these harmful defense cells were destroyed in the immune organ—the site where immune cells mature.

The latest Nobel Prize honors the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the body to neutralize other immune cells that assault the healthy cells.

We know that this mechanism fails in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and RA.

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

In cancer, T-regs prevent the system from attacking the tumor, so studies are focused on reducing their quantity.

For self-attack disorders, trials are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the organism is no longer being harmed. A comparable approach could also be effective in reducing the chances of organ transplant failure.

Innovative Studies

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

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

Dr. Brunkow, from 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 led to the identification of a gene vital for the way regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their groundbreaking work has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by T-reg cells, stopping it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," commented a leading biological science specialist.

"The research is a remarkable illustration of how fundamental biological research can have far-reaching consequences for human health."