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This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for revolutionary findings that illuminate how the immune system attacks dangerous pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.

Three esteemed researchers—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and American experts Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this accolade.

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

The findings are now enabling innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

The laureates will divide a prize fund valued at 11m SEK.

Crucial Discoveries

"Their work has been decisive for comprehending how the immune system functions and why we do not all suffer from serious self-attack conditions," stated the chair of the Nobel Committee.

The team's studies address a core question: In what way does the immune system protect us from countless infections while keeping our own tissues intact?

Our body's protection system uses immune cells that search for indicators of infection, even pathogens and bacteria it has never encountered.

These cells employ detectors—known as recognition units—that are generated by chance in a vast number of variations.

That provides the immune system the capacity to combat a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the process unavoidably produces white blood cells that can target the body.

Protectors of the Body

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

This year's award recognizes the discovery of T-reg cells—known as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the system to neutralize any defenders that attack the healthy cells.

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

A prize committee stated, "These discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of investigation and accelerated the creation of new treatments, for instance for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding cancer, regulatory T-cells block the system from attacking the tumor, so studies are focused on lowering their quantity.

For autoimmune diseases, experiments are testing boosting T-reg cells so the organism is not being harmed. A similar approach could also be effective in minimizing the risks of organ transplant rejection.

Pioneering Experiments

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, conducted experiments on rodents that had their thymus extracted, leading to autoimmune disease.

The researcher demonstrated that injecting defense cells from other animals could prevent the disease—implying there was a mechanism for blocking immune cells from harming the body.

Dr. Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were studying an inherited immune disorder in mice and humans that resulted in the identification of a gene critical for how T-regs function.

"Their pioneering work has uncovered how the body's defenses is kept in check by regulatory T cells, preventing it from accidentally attacking the body's own tissues," commented a prominent physiology specialist.

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