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The prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for revolutionary discoveries that illuminate how the immune system targets dangerous infections while protecting the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed researchers—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and American scientists Mary Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this honor.

Their research identified unique "sentinels" within the defense system that remove malfunctioning immune cells that could harming the body.

These findings are now enabling innovative therapies for immune disorders and malignancies.

The winners will share a monetary award worth 11 million Swedish kronor.

Decisive Findings

"The work has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses operates and why we don't all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," stated the head of the award panel.

The team's studies explain a core question: How does the immune system defend us from numerous infections while leaving our own tissues intact?

Our body's protection system employs immune cells that search for signs of infection, including pathogens and bacteria it has not met before.

These cells employ detectors—called recognition units—that are produced randomly in a vast number of variations.

This gives the defense network the ability to fight a wide array of invaders, but the unpredictability of the process inevitably creates immune cells that may target the host.

Protectors of the Immune System

Scientists previously understood that some of these problematic white blood cells were eliminated in the immune organ—where immune cells develop.

The latest Nobel Prize honors the identification of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the body to neutralize any immune cells that attack the healthy cells.

We know that this mechanism fails in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and rheumatoid arthritis.

A prize committee added, "These findings have established a novel area of investigation and spurred the development of new therapies, for example for tumors and immune disorders."

Regarding cancer, regulatory T-cells prevent the body from fighting the tumor, so research are focused on reducing their quantity.

For self-attack disorders, trials are exploring increasing regulatory T-cells so the body is not being harmed. A comparable method could also be effective in minimizing the risks of organ transplant failure.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, conducted tests on rodents that had their thymus extracted, causing self-attack conditions.

The researcher demonstrated that introducing immune cells from healthy animals could stop the illness—suggesting there was a mechanism for preventing immune cells from attacking the host.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in a California city, were studying an inherited immune disorder in mice and humans that led to the discovery of a genetic factor vital for the way regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their pioneering research has revealed how the body's defenses is kept in check by T-reg cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the body's own tissues," said a prominent physiology specialist.

"This research is a striking example of how basic physiological study can have broad consequences for human health."