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The prestigious award in medical science has been awarded for transformative findings that clarify how the immune system targets harmful infections while sparing the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed researchers—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and US experts Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this accolade.

Their work uncovered unique "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate malfunctioning immune cells that could harming the organism.

The discoveries are now enabling innovative therapies for immune disorders and malignancies.

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

Decisive Discoveries

"Their work has been decisive for comprehending how the immune system operates and the reason we do not all suffer from severe self-attack conditions," commented the head of the award panel.

The team's research explain a core mystery: How does the immune system protect us from countless invaders while leaving our healthy cells unharmed?

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

Such defenders utilize sensors—called recognition units—that are produced by chance in a vast number of combinations.

That gives the defense network the capacity to combat a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the mechanism unavoidably produces immune cells that may target the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Scientists earlier knew that some of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the immune organ—the site where immune cells develop.

This year's Nobel Prize recognizes the identification of T-reg cells—known as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the system to disarm other defenders that attack the healthy cells.

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

A Nobel panel added, "These discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of investigation and spurred the development of new treatments, for instance for tumors and immune disorders."

In cancer, regulatory T-cells prevent the system from attacking the tumor, so studies are aimed at lowering their quantity.

For self-attack disorders, trials are testing boosting T-reg cells so the organism is no longer under attack. A similar method could also be effective in minimizing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Pioneering Studies

Professor Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, conducted experiments on mice that had their thymus removed, leading to autoimmune disease.

The researcher demonstrated that injecting immune cells from healthy mice could stop the illness—suggesting there was a system for blocking immune cells from attacking the body.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in a California city, were investigating an inherited autoimmune disease in rodents and people that led to the discovery of a genetic factor vital for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"The groundbreaking research has revealed how the immune system is controlled by T-reg cells, stopping it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," said a prominent physiology expert.

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