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The prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine has been granted for revolutionary findings that clarify how the immune system targets dangerous pathogens while protecting the healthy tissues.

Three renowned scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American scientists Mary Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this accolade.

The research uncovered unique "sentinels" within the defense system that remove malfunctioning defense cells capable of attacking the organism.

These discoveries are now paving the way for new treatments for immune disorders and malignancies.

These laureates will share a prize fund worth 11m Swedish kronor.

Crucial Discoveries

"The work has been essential for comprehending how the body's defenses operates and the reason we don't all suffer from severe self-attack conditions," stated the chair of the award panel.

The trio's studies address a fundamental mystery: How does the defense system protect us from countless infections while leaving our healthy cells intact?

The body's protection system employs white blood cells that search for signs of disease, including viruses and bacteria it has not met before.

These cells utilize detectors—called recognition units—that are generated randomly in countless combinations.

That gives the defense network the ability to fight a broad range of threats, but the unpredictability of the process inevitably creates immune cells that can attack the body.

Protectors of the Immune System

Researchers previously understood that some of these harmful defense cells were destroyed in the thymus—where white blood cells mature.

The latest award honors the discovery of regulatory T-cells—known as the immune system's "security guards"—which travel through the body to neutralize any immune cells that assault the healthy cells.

We know that this mechanism fails in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

A prize committee added, "These findings have laid the foundation for a new field of research and accelerated the creation of new treatments, for instance for cancer and immune disorders."

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

In self-attack disorders, experiments are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the organism is no longer under attack. A similar approach could also be useful in reducing the chances of transplanted organ rejection.

Pioneering Experiments

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

He showed that introducing defense cells from healthy animals could stop the disease—suggesting there was a mechanism for preventing defenders from harming the body.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in a California city, were studying an inherited immune disorder in rodents and people that resulted in the discovery of a genetic factor critical for how T-regs function.

"Their pioneering work has uncovered how the body's defenses is controlled by T-reg cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," commented a prominent physiology specialist.

"This research is a striking illustration of how fundamental physiological research can have broad implications for human health."