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The prestigious award in medical science was granted for transformative findings that clarify how the body's defense network attacks dangerous infections while sparing the healthy tissues.

A trio of renowned researchers—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.

The research identified unique "sentinels" within the immune system that eliminate rogue defense cells that could attacking the organism.

These findings are now enabling new treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

These winners will divide a monetary award worth 11m SEK.

Crucial Findings

"Their work has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses operates and why we don't all develop serious self-attack conditions," stated the chair of the award panel.

The team's studies address a fundamental mystery: In what way does the defense system defend us from numerous invaders while leaving our healthy cells unharmed?

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

These defenders utilize sensors—known as recognition units—that are generated randomly in a vast number of variations.

That provides the immune system the ability to fight a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the mechanism unavoidably creates immune cells that may attack the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

Scientists earlier understood that a portion of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the thymus—the site where immune cells mature.

The latest award honors the discovery of T-reg cells—known as the body's "security guards"—which travel through the body to neutralize other defenders that attack the body's own tissues.

It is known that this mechanism malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and rheumatoid arthritis.

A Nobel panel stated, "These findings have established a novel area of research and accelerated the development of innovative treatments, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

In cancer, regulatory T-cells prevent the body from attacking the tumor, so studies are focused on reducing their numbers.

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

Innovative Experiments

Prof Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, conducted tests on mice that had their thymus removed, leading to autoimmune disease.

The researcher demonstrated that introducing defense cells from healthy animals could stop the illness—implying there was a system for blocking defenders from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were studying an inherited immune disorder in rodents and people that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor critical for the way regulatory T-cells operate.

"The pioneering research has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by regulatory T cells, stopping it from mistakenly targeting the healthy cells," commented a prominent biological science specialist.

"This work is a remarkable illustration of how basic biological study can have broad implications for human health."