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The prestigious award in medical science has been granted for revolutionary discoveries that illuminate how the body's defense network attacks harmful pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

A trio of renowned scientists—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and US scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this accolade.

The research identified specialized "sentinels" within the immune system that eliminate malfunctioning immune cells capable of attacking the body.

The findings are now enabling new therapies for immune disorders and cancer.

The laureates will share a monetary award valued at 11m Swedish kronor.

Decisive Discoveries

"The research has been decisive for comprehending how the body's defenses functions and why we do not all develop severe self-attack conditions," stated the head of the award panel.

This team's research address a core question: In what way does the immune system protect us from countless invaders while leaving our own tissues intact?

Our immune system uses white blood cells that scan for indicators of infection, including viruses and bacteria it has not met before.

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

This gives the immune system the ability to fight a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the process unavoidably produces immune cells that may attack the host.

Security Guards of the Body

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

This year's award honors the identification of regulatory T-cells—described as the body's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the system to neutralize other defenders that attack the healthy cells.

We know that this mechanism malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The prize committee stated, "These findings have established a novel area of investigation and accelerated the development of innovative therapies, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

In cancer, regulatory T-cells block the system from fighting the growth, so research are focused on reducing their numbers.

For autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing boosting T-reg cells so the organism is not under attack. A similar approach could also be useful in reducing the chances of transplanted organ rejection.

Pioneering Studies

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, performed tests on rodents that had their thymus removed, causing self-attack conditions.

He demonstrated that injecting defense cells from healthy animals could stop the disease—implying there was a mechanism for blocking immune cells from attacking the body.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were studying an genetic autoimmune disease in rodents and humans that led to the discovery of a genetic factor vital for the way regulatory T-cells function.

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

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