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The prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for revolutionary findings that illuminate how the immune system attacks harmful pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.

Three renowned scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this honor.

Their work uncovered specialized "sentinels" within the defense system that eliminate malfunctioning defense cells capable of harming the body.

The discoveries are now enabling innovative treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

The laureates will share a monetary award worth 11 million SEK.

Crucial Findings

"Their work has been essential for understanding how the body's defenses operates and the reason we don't all develop serious autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

This trio's research explain a core question: How does the defense system protect us from countless infections while leaving our own tissues intact?

The body's protection system uses white blood cells that scan for signs of infection, even viruses and bacteria it has not met before.

Such defenders employ sensors—called receptors—that are produced by chance in countless combinations.

That gives the defense network the capacity to fight a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the mechanism unavoidably produces white blood cells that can attack the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

Researchers earlier understood that some of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the immune organ—where immune cells mature.

This year's Nobel Prize recognizes the identification of regulatory T-cells—described as the body's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the system to disarm any immune cells that assault the body's own tissues.

It is known that this mechanism malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

A prize committee stated, "These discoveries have established a new field of investigation and accelerated the creation of new therapies, for instance for tumors and immune disorders."

In cancer, T-regs block the body from fighting the growth, so studies are aimed at reducing their numbers.

In self-attack disorders, trials are exploring increasing regulatory T-cells so the organism is no longer being harmed. A comparable method could also be useful in minimizing the chances of organ transplant failure.

Pioneering Studies

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, conducted tests on mice that had their immune gland removed, causing self-attack conditions.

He showed that injecting defense cells from healthy mice could prevent the illness—implying there was a system for preventing defenders from harming the body.

Mary Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in a California city, were investigating an genetic autoimmune disease in rodents and humans that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor critical for how regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their pioneering research has uncovered how the immune system is kept in check by T-reg cells, stopping it from mistakenly targeting the body's own tissues," commented a prominent physiology expert.

"The work is a striking illustration of how fundamental biological study can have far-reaching implications for human health."