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The prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for transformative findings that illuminate how the body's defense network attacks dangerous infections while protecting the healthy tissues.

Three renowned researchers—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American experts Mary Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this accolade.

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

These discoveries are now paving the way for innovative treatments for immune disorders and cancer.

The winners will divide a monetary award valued at 11m Swedish kronor.

Crucial Discoveries

"Their research has been decisive for understanding how the immune system functions and why we do not all develop severe self-attack conditions," stated the chair of the Nobel Committee.

The trio's studies explain a core mystery: How does the defense system protect us from countless invaders while keeping our healthy cells intact?

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

Such defenders utilize detectors—called recognition units—that are produced randomly in countless variations.

This provides the immune system the ability to fight a broad range of invaders, but the randomness of the mechanism inevitably creates white blood cells that may attack the body.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Researchers previously knew that a portion of these problematic white blood cells were destroyed in the immune organ—where immune cells develop.

The latest award recognizes the discovery of T-reg cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the body to neutralize other defenders that attack the healthy cells.

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

A prize committee stated, "These discoveries have established a novel area of research and spurred the creation of new treatments, for instance for cancer and immune disorders."

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

For autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is no longer being harmed. A similar method could also be effective in minimizing the chances of transplanted organ rejection.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, performed tests on mice that had their thymus removed, leading to self-attack conditions.

The researcher demonstrated that introducing defense cells from other mice could prevent the disease—implying there was a mechanism for preventing defenders from attacking the host.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were investigating an inherited immune disorder in mice and humans that led to the identification of a genetic factor critical for how T-regs function.

"The pioneering work has revealed how the immune system is controlled by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," commented a leading physiology specialist.

"The work is a striking example of how basic physiological study can have broad consequences for public health."