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The prestigious award in medical science was granted for transformative findings that illuminate how the body's defense network attacks harmful pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.

A trio of esteemed researchers—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and American experts Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—received this accolade.

The work identified specialized "security guards" within the defense system that remove malfunctioning immune cells capable of harming the body.

These discoveries are now enabling new therapies for immune disorders and cancer.

The winners will divide a prize fund worth 11m Swedish kronor.

Decisive Findings

"Their work has been essential for understanding how the body's defenses operates and the reason we do not all develop severe self-attack conditions," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

The trio's research address a fundamental mystery: In what way does the immune system protect us from numerous infections while leaving our healthy cells intact?

Our body's protection system employs white blood cells that scan for signs of disease, even viruses and germs it has never encountered.

Such defenders employ detectors—called receptors—that are generated by chance in countless combinations.

This gives the defense network the capacity to fight a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the process inevitably creates immune cells that can attack the body.

Security Guards of the Body

Researchers previously knew that a portion of these harmful defense cells were destroyed in the thymus—the site where immune cells mature.

The latest award recognizes the identification of regulatory T-cells—known as the body's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the system to neutralize other immune cells that attack the healthy cells.

We know that this mechanism malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and RA.

The Nobel panel stated, "The findings have established a new field of investigation and spurred the development of new therapies, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding cancer, regulatory T-cells block the system from fighting the tumor, so studies are focused on lowering their quantity.

For self-attack disorders, trials are testing increasing T-reg cells so the body is not under attack. A comparable approach could also be useful in reducing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Innovative Experiments

Professor Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, conducted tests on mice that had their thymus removed, causing autoimmune disease.

The researcher showed that injecting defense cells from other mice could stop the disease—implying there was a system for blocking immune cells from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were investigating an genetic autoimmune disease in rodents and people that led to the discovery of a gene critical for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"Their pioneering work has uncovered how the body's defenses is kept in check by T-reg cells, stopping it from mistakenly targeting the body's own tissues," said a leading biological science expert.

"The research is a remarkable illustration of how fundamental biological study can have broad implications for human health."