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The Nobel Prize in medical science has been awarded for transformative discoveries that clarify how the immune system targets harmful infections while sparing the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed researchers—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this accolade.

Their work uncovered unique "security guards" within the defense system that eliminate rogue defense cells capable of attacking the organism.

The findings are now paving the way for new therapies for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

These laureates will divide a monetary award valued at 11 million Swedish kronor.

Crucial Findings

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

This trio's studies address a core question: How does the defense system defend us from numerous infections while keeping our own tissues intact?

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

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

That provides the defense network the ability to combat a broad range of threats, but the unpredictability of the mechanism inevitably creates white blood cells that may attack the host.

Protectors of the Body

Researchers previously knew that some of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the immune organ—where white blood cells mature.

The latest award recognizes the discovery of T-reg cells—known as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the system to disarm other immune cells that attack the body's own tissues.

We know that this mechanism fails in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

A prize committee added, "The findings have established a novel area of research and accelerated the creation of innovative therapies, for instance for cancer and immune disorders."

In cancer, regulatory T-cells block the system from attacking the tumor, so studies are focused on lowering their quantity.

For autoimmune diseases, trials are exploring boosting T-reg cells so the body is no longer under attack. A comparable approach could also be effective in reducing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Innovative Studies

Prof Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed experiments on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, causing self-attack conditions.

He demonstrated that injecting defense cells from other animals could stop the disease—implying there was a mechanism for preventing defenders from harming the host.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were investigating an inherited autoimmune disease in mice and people that resulted in the identification of a gene vital for how T-regs operate.

"The pioneering work has uncovered how the immune system is kept in check by T-reg cells, stopping it from accidentally targeting the healthy cells," commented a prominent biological science expert.

"This work is a striking illustration of how fundamental biological study can have broad implications for human health."