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This year's prestigious award in medical science was granted for transformative discoveries that clarify how the immune system targets harmful infections while sparing the body's own cells.

Three renowned researchers—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this honor.

Their research uncovered specialized "sentinels" within the defense system that remove rogue defense cells that could attacking the body.

The findings are now enabling innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

These laureates will share a prize fund worth 11m SEK.

Decisive Discoveries

"The research has been decisive for understanding how the immune system functions and the reason we do not all suffer from serious autoimmune diseases," commented the chair of the Nobel Committee.

This trio's research address a core question: How does the defense system protect us from numerous infections while keeping our own tissues unharmed?

The body's protection system employs immune cells that search for signs of disease, including viruses and bacteria it has not met before.

These cells utilize detectors—called recognition units—that are generated randomly in countless combinations.

That gives the defense network the ability to combat a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the mechanism inevitably produces immune cells that may attack the host.

Protectors of the Body

Researchers earlier knew that some of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the thymus—where white blood cells mature.

This year's award honors the discovery of T-reg cells—described as the immune system's "security guards"—which patrol the body to neutralize other immune cells that assault the body's own tissues.

We know that this mechanism malfunctions in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and RA.

The Nobel panel stated, "These findings have laid the foundation for a new field of investigation and accelerated the development of innovative therapies, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases."

In cancer, T-regs block the system from fighting the tumor, so studies are aimed at reducing their quantity.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the organism is no longer under attack. A similar method could also be useful in reducing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Pioneering Studies

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, conducted tests on mice that had their immune gland removed, causing autoimmune disease.

The researcher demonstrated that introducing defense cells from other animals could prevent the disease—implying there was a system for preventing immune cells from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in a California city, were studying an inherited autoimmune disease in rodents and people that resulted in the identification of a gene critical for the way T-regs operate.

"The pioneering work has revealed how the immune system is controlled by regulatory T cells, stopping it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," commented a prominent biological science specialist.

"The research is a remarkable example of how fundamental biological study can have far-reaching consequences for human health."