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This year's Nobel Prize in medical science was granted for revolutionary findings that clarify how the immune system targets harmful infections while protecting the healthy tissues.

Three esteemed researchers—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this honor.

Their work identified unique "sentinels" within the immune system that remove malfunctioning defense cells that could attacking the organism.

The discoveries are now enabling new treatments for immune disorders and malignancies.

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

Decisive Findings

"The research has been essential for understanding how the body's defenses functions and why we do not all develop severe autoimmune diseases," stated the chair of the award panel.

The trio's research explain a core mystery: In what way does the immune system protect us from countless invaders while leaving our own tissues intact?

The immune system employs white blood cells that search for indicators of infection, even pathogens and germs it has never encountered.

These defenders utilize sensors—called receptors—that are generated randomly in a vast number of combinations.

This gives the defense network the capacity to combat a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process inevitably produces white blood cells that may attack the body.

Protectors of the Body

Scientists earlier knew that a portion of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the thymus—where white blood cells develop.

The latest award recognizes the identification of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the system to disarm other immune cells that assault the healthy cells.

It is known that this mechanism fails in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and RA.

A Nobel panel added, "The findings have established a new field of investigation and accelerated the creation of innovative therapies, for example for tumors and immune disorders."

Regarding malignancies, T-regs block the system from fighting the tumor, so research are aimed at reducing their numbers.

For autoimmune diseases, experiments are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the organism is not under attack. A comparable approach could also be effective in reducing the risks of organ transplant rejection.

Pioneering Experiments

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

The researcher demonstrated that introducing immune cells from other animals could stop the illness—suggesting there was a mechanism for preventing immune cells from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were studying an inherited autoimmune disease in mice and people that led to the identification of a genetic factor critical for how T-regs operate.

"Their pioneering work has revealed how the immune system is kept in check by regulatory T cells, preventing it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," said a prominent physiology specialist.

"The work is a remarkable illustration of how fundamental biological study can have broad consequences for public health."