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This year's prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for revolutionary discoveries that illuminate how the body's defense network attacks harmful infections while sparing the body's own cells.

A trio of esteemed scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and US experts Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this honor.

The research uncovered specialized "sentinels" within the defense system that eliminate malfunctioning defense cells that could harming the organism.

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

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

Decisive Discoveries

"Their research has been essential for comprehending how the body's defenses operates and the reason we do not all develop severe self-attack conditions," commented the head of the award panel.

The trio's studies explain a core question: How does the defense system protect us from numerous invaders while leaving our healthy cells intact?

Our immune system employs immune cells that search for signs of disease, including pathogens and bacteria it has never encountered.

These defenders utilize sensors—known as receptors—that are produced randomly in countless combinations.

This gives the immune system the capacity to combat a broad range of threats, but the unpredictability of the mechanism inevitably produces immune cells that can target the body.

Protectors of the Body

Scientists earlier knew that a portion of these problematic white blood cells were destroyed in the thymus—where immune cells mature.

This year's Nobel Prize honors the identification of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "security guards"—which travel through the body to neutralize other immune cells that assault the healthy cells.

It is known that this process fails in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

A prize committee stated, "The discoveries have established a new field of investigation and accelerated the development of new therapies, for instance for cancer and immune disorders."

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

For self-attack disorders, trials are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is not under attack. A comparable method could also be useful in reducing the chances of transplanted organ failure.

Innovative Studies

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, performed tests on rodents that had their thymus removed, causing autoimmune disease.

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

Mary Brunkow, from the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in a California city, were studying an inherited immune disorder in mice and people that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor critical for the way regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their pioneering research has uncovered how the body's defenses is kept in check by regulatory T cells, preventing it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," commented a prominent physiology expert.

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