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This year's prestigious award in medical science was granted for revolutionary findings that clarify how the body's defense network targets dangerous infections while protecting the healthy tissues.

Three esteemed researchers—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Mary Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this honor.

The research identified unique "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate rogue immune cells that could harming the body.

These discoveries are now paving the way for new treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

These winners will divide a monetary award worth 11 million SEK.

Decisive Discoveries

"Their research has been essential for understanding how the body's defenses operates and why we do not all suffer from serious autoimmune diseases," commented the chair of the Nobel Committee.

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

The immune system uses immune cells that search for indicators of infection, including pathogens and germs it has never encountered.

These defenders utilize sensors—known as receptors—that are generated randomly in countless variations.

This gives the immune system the capacity to fight a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the mechanism inevitably produces white blood cells that may target the host.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Researchers previously understood that some of these problematic defense cells were destroyed in the immune organ—where immune cells mature.

This year's award honors the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the body to disarm any defenders that assault the body's own tissues.

It is known that this mechanism fails in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

A prize committee added, "These findings have laid the foundation for a new field of research and accelerated the development of new treatments, for example for cancer and immune disorders."

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

In self-attack disorders, trials are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the body is not being harmed. A comparable method could also be useful in minimizing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Pioneering Studies

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, performed experiments on mice that had their thymus removed, leading to autoimmune disease.

He showed that injecting defense cells from other mice could stop the disease—suggesting there was a system for blocking defenders from attacking the body.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in a California city, were investigating an inherited immune disorder in mice and humans that led to the discovery of a gene vital for how regulatory T-cells function.

"Their groundbreaking work has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," commented a prominent physiology expert.

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