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This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for transformative findings that clarify how the body's defense network targets harmful pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

A trio of renowned researchers—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American experts Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.

The work identified unique "security guards" within the immune system that remove rogue defense cells that could attacking the organism.

The findings are now paving the way for innovative treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

These laureates will share a monetary award worth 11m Swedish kronor.

Decisive Findings

"The work has been decisive for understanding how the immune system functions and the reason we don't all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," stated the head of the Nobel Committee.

This team's research address a fundamental question: How does the defense system protect us from numerous invaders while keeping our own tissues intact?

The immune system employs immune cells that search for indicators of infection, including viruses and bacteria it has not met before.

These defenders utilize detectors—called receptors—that are generated randomly in countless combinations.

That gives the defense network the ability to combat a broad range of invaders, but the randomness of the process unavoidably produces white blood cells that may attack the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Scientists previously knew that a portion of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the thymus—the site where immune cells mature.

This year's award recognizes the discovery of T-reg cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which travel through the system to neutralize any immune cells that attack the body's own tissues.

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

A prize committee stated, "The findings have established a novel area of research and spurred the development of innovative treatments, for instance for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

In malignancies, T-regs prevent the system from fighting the growth, so studies are focused on reducing their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing increasing regulatory T-cells so the organism is not being harmed. A comparable method could also be effective in minimizing the chances of transplanted organ failure.

Pioneering Experiments

Prof Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, performed tests on rodents that had their immune gland removed, leading to self-attack conditions.

The researcher demonstrated that introducing immune cells from other mice could prevent the illness—suggesting there was a system for preventing defenders from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were investigating an genetic autoimmune disease in rodents and people that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor critical for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"Their groundbreaking research has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by T-reg cells, stopping it from accidentally targeting the body's own tissues," said a leading physiology specialist.

"This research is a remarkable example of how fundamental physiological research can have broad consequences for human health."