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This year's prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine has been granted for revolutionary findings that illuminate how the body's defense network attacks harmful infections while sparing the body's own cells.

Three renowned scientists—Japan's Prof. Sakaguchi and American experts Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this accolade.

Their research uncovered specialized "security guards" within the immune system that eliminate malfunctioning defense cells capable of attacking the organism.

The discoveries are now paving the way for new treatments for immune disorders and malignancies.

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

Decisive Discoveries

"The research has been decisive for understanding how the immune system functions and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases," stated the chair of the Nobel Committee.

The team's studies explain a core mystery: In what way does the defense system protect us from countless invaders while keeping our healthy cells unharmed?

Our immune system employs immune cells that scan for indicators of disease, even pathogens and bacteria it has never encountered.

These cells utilize detectors—called receptors—that are generated by chance in countless variations.

That gives the immune system the ability to combat a wide array of invaders, but the unpredictability of the mechanism inevitably creates immune cells that can target the body.

Security Guards of the Body

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

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

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

A Nobel panel added, "The findings have established a novel area of investigation and accelerated the creation of innovative treatments, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding malignancies, regulatory T-cells block the body from attacking the tumor, so studies are aimed at lowering their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are exploring boosting regulatory T-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 Shimon Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, performed experiments on mice that had their thymus extracted, causing self-attack conditions.

The researcher showed that injecting immune cells from other mice could stop the disease—suggesting there was a system for preventing defenders from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, from the a research center in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in a California city, were studying an genetic autoimmune disease in rodents and people that led to the discovery of a genetic factor critical for the way regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their groundbreaking work has revealed how the immune system is controlled by T-reg cells, stopping it from accidentally targeting the body's own tissues," said a leading biological science expert.

"The research is a striking example of how fundamental physiological research can have far-reaching consequences for public health."