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This year's prestigious award in medical science was granted for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the immune system attacks dangerous pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed researchers—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and US experts Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.

Their work uncovered unique "security guards" within the defense system that eliminate rogue immune cells capable of harming the organism.

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

The laureates will share a prize fund worth 11 million Swedish kronor.

Crucial Findings

"Their research has been decisive for comprehending how the body's defenses functions and the reason we don't all develop severe self-attack conditions," commented the chair of the award panel.

The team's research explain a fundamental mystery: In what way does the defense system protect us from countless infections while leaving our own tissues intact?

Our immune system employs immune cells that scan for signs of disease, even pathogens and germs it has not met before.

Such cells employ sensors—known as recognition units—that are generated randomly in a vast number of combinations.

That gives the defense network the ability to fight a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the process unavoidably creates immune cells that may attack the body.

Protectors of the Immune System

Researchers earlier understood that a portion of these harmful defense cells were eliminated in the immune organ—the site where white blood cells mature.

This year's award recognizes the discovery of T-reg cells—known as the body's "security guards"—which travel through the system to disarm other immune cells that assault the body's own tissues.

It is known that this mechanism fails in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and RA.

The prize committee added, "These discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of research and accelerated the development of innovative therapies, for example for cancer and immune disorders."

Regarding cancer, T-regs prevent the body from attacking the tumor, so studies are focused on lowering their quantity.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are exploring boosting T-reg cells so the organism is no longer being harmed. A comparable approach could also be useful in minimizing the risks of transplanted organ failure.

Innovative Studies

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, conducted tests on rodents that had their thymus extracted, leading to autoimmune disease.

The researcher demonstrated that injecting defense cells from healthy mice could stop the illness—suggesting there was a system for preventing immune cells from harming the host.

Mary Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were investigating an genetic immune disorder in rodents and people that led to the identification of a genetic factor critical for the way T-regs operate.

"The groundbreaking research has uncovered how the immune system is controlled by T-reg cells, stopping it from accidentally targeting the healthy cells," commented a leading physiology expert.

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