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The prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the immune system attacks dangerous infections while protecting the healthy tissues.

A trio of esteemed researchers—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American experts Dr. Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this accolade.

The research uncovered unique "security guards" within the defense system that remove malfunctioning immune cells capable of harming the body.

These findings are now paving the way for new treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

The winners will divide a monetary award worth 11 million SEK.

Decisive Findings

"The research has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses functions and the reason we do not all develop severe autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

This team's research explain a fundamental mystery: How does the defense system protect us from numerous invaders while leaving our own tissues intact?

Our body's protection system employs white blood cells that search for signs of disease, even viruses and bacteria it has not met before.

Such defenders utilize sensors—known as recognition units—that are produced by chance in a vast number of variations.

That provides the defense network the capacity to combat a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the process unavoidably creates white blood cells that may target the body.

Security Guards of the Body

Researchers previously knew that a portion of these harmful white blood cells were destroyed in the immune organ—where immune cells mature.

This year's Nobel Prize honors the discovery of regulatory T-cells—known as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the system to disarm other immune cells that attack the body's own tissues.

It is known that this mechanism fails in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and RA.

A Nobel panel stated, "The findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and accelerated the creation of new therapies, for instance for cancer and immune disorders."

In cancer, regulatory T-cells block the body from fighting the tumor, so studies are aimed at reducing their quantity.

For autoimmune diseases, trials are exploring boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is not under attack. A comparable approach could also be useful in minimizing the chances of transplanted organ failure.

Pioneering Studies

Prof Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, performed tests on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, leading to self-attack conditions.

He showed that injecting immune cells from other animals could prevent 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 Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were investigating an genetic autoimmune disease in rodents and humans that led to the identification of a genetic factor critical 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, preventing it from mistakenly targeting the body's own tissues," said a prominent physiology expert.

"This work is a striking illustration of how fundamental physiological research can have far-reaching consequences for human health."