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This year's prestigious award in medical science was awarded for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the body's defense network attacks dangerous infections while sparing the body's own cells.

A trio of renowned researchers—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and US scientists Mary Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this honor.

The work uncovered unique "sentinels" within the defense system that eliminate rogue defense cells that could harming the body.

The findings are now paving the way for innovative therapies for immune disorders and cancer.

The winners will share a monetary award valued at 11m SEK.

Decisive Findings

"Their research has been decisive for comprehending how the body's defenses functions and why we do not all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," commented the chair of the award panel.

This trio's research address a core mystery: How does the immune system protect us from numerous invaders while keeping our own tissues unharmed?

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

Such defenders employ detectors—known as recognition units—that are produced randomly in a vast number of variations.

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

Security Guards of the Body

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

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

We know that this process fails in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

A prize committee stated, "These findings have established a new field of research and accelerated the development of new treatments, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding cancer, T-regs block the system from fighting the growth, so studies are aimed at lowering their quantity.

For self-attack disorders, trials are exploring increasing T-reg cells so the organism is not being harmed. A comparable approach could also be effective in reducing the risks of transplanted organ failure.

Pioneering Studies

Professor Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, performed experiments on mice that had their immune gland extracted, causing autoimmune disease.

He showed that injecting defense cells from healthy mice could prevent the illness—suggesting there was a system for preventing immune cells from harming the body.

Dr. Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were studying an genetic autoimmune disease in rodents and people that led to the identification of a gene vital for how regulatory T-cells operate.

"The pioneering work has uncovered how the immune system is kept in check by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly attacking the healthy cells," commented a leading physiology specialist.

"The research is a striking illustration of how basic biological study can have far-reaching consequences for public health."