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The prestigious award in medical science was granted for revolutionary findings that clarify how the body's defense network attacks dangerous infections while protecting the body's own cells.

Three renowned researchers—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this accolade.

Their research uncovered specialized "security guards" within the defense system that eliminate rogue immune cells that could harming the organism.

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

These laureates will divide a prize fund worth 11m Swedish kronor.

Crucial Discoveries

"The work has been essential for understanding how the immune system functions and the reason we do not all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," stated the head of the award panel.

This team's research explain a fundamental question: How does the immune system defend us from countless invaders while leaving our healthy cells intact?

Our immune system employs white blood cells that scan for signs of disease, even pathogens and bacteria it has not met before.

Such defenders employ detectors—known as receptors—that are generated randomly in a vast number of combinations.

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

Protectors of the Body

Researchers earlier knew that some of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the thymus—the site where immune cells mature.

This year's Nobel Prize honors the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which travel through the body to neutralize other defenders that attack the body's own tissues.

We know that this process malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and RA.

A prize committee added, "These findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and accelerated the development of new treatments, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

In malignancies, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from fighting the growth, so research are focused on reducing their quantity.

In autoimmune diseases, experiments are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the organism is no longer under attack. A similar method could also be useful in minimizing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Innovative Experiments

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

He demonstrated that introducing defense cells from other animals could stop the illness—suggesting there was a mechanism for blocking immune cells from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were investigating an genetic autoimmune disease in mice and humans that led to the discovery of a gene vital for how regulatory T-cells function.

"Their pioneering research 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 prominent biological science expert.

"The work is a remarkable example of how basic physiological research can have far-reaching consequences for public health."