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This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for transformative findings that illuminate how the body's defense network attacks dangerous infections while sparing the body's own cells.

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

The research identified specialized "security guards" within the defense system that remove rogue defense cells that could attacking the body.

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

The laureates will divide a monetary award valued at 11m SEK.

Crucial Findings

"Their research has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses operates and why we don't all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," commented the chair of the award panel.

The trio's research explain a core mystery: In what way does the immune system defend us from countless invaders while leaving our healthy cells unharmed?

The body's protection system employs white blood cells that search for indicators of infection, including viruses and bacteria it has never encountered.

Such defenders employ sensors—called recognition units—that are produced by chance in a vast number of combinations.

This provides the immune system the ability to fight a broad range of threats, but the unpredictability of the process inevitably creates immune cells that can target the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Scientists earlier understood that a portion of these harmful white blood cells were eliminated in the immune organ—where immune cells mature.

The latest Nobel Prize honors the discovery of regulatory T-cells—known as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the system to neutralize any defenders that attack the body's own tissues.

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

A Nobel panel added, "The discoveries have laid the foundation for a novel area of research and accelerated the development of innovative therapies, for instance for cancer and immune disorders."

In cancer, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from attacking the growth, so studies are aimed at lowering their numbers.

For self-attack disorders, trials are testing increasing T-reg cells so the body is no longer being harmed. A similar approach could also be effective in reducing the risks of transplanted organ failure.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, performed experiments on rodents that had their thymus extracted, causing autoimmune disease.

He demonstrated that introducing defense cells from other animals could stop the illness—implying there was a system for preventing defenders from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were investigating an inherited immune disorder in mice and humans that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor vital for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"Their pioneering work has revealed how the immune system is kept in check by regulatory T cells, stopping it from accidentally targeting the body's own tissues," said a leading biological science specialist.

"This work is a remarkable illustration of how fundamental physiological study can have far-reaching implications for public health."