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

A trio of esteemed scientists—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and American experts Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this honor.

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

These findings are now enabling new therapies for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

These laureates will divide a monetary award worth 11m SEK.

Crucial Discoveries

"The work has been decisive for understanding how the immune system operates and why we do not all develop serious self-attack conditions," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

This trio's research address a fundamental mystery: How does the immune system defend us from numerous invaders while leaving our own tissues intact?

The body's protection system employs white blood cells that search for signs of infection, even viruses and germs it has never encountered.

These defenders utilize detectors—called recognition units—that are generated randomly in countless variations.

This gives the defense network the ability to combat a broad range of invaders, but the randomness of the process unavoidably produces immune cells that may attack the body.

Protectors of the Body

Researchers previously understood that some of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the thymus—where white blood cells mature.

The latest award honors the discovery of T-reg cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the body to neutralize any immune cells that assault the body's own tissues.

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

The Nobel panel stated, "The discoveries have established a novel area of research and spurred the creation of new therapies, for instance for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding cancer, T-regs block the body from attacking the tumor, so studies are focused on reducing their quantity.

For autoimmune diseases, trials are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is no longer under attack. A comparable method could also be useful in minimizing the risks of organ transplant failure.

Innovative Studies

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

He showed that introducing defense cells from other animals could prevent the disease—suggesting there was a system for preventing immune cells from harming the body.

Dr. Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were investigating an inherited autoimmune disease in rodents and people that resulted in the discovery of a genetic factor vital for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"The groundbreaking research has revealed how the immune system is controlled by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly attacking the body's own tissues," commented a leading biological science specialist.

"This work is a striking illustration of how basic physiological study can have broad implications for public health."