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This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for revolutionary findings that illuminate how the immune system attacks dangerous pathogens while sparing the healthy tissues.

Three esteemed scientists—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American scientists Dr. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.

Their research identified specialized "sentinels" within the immune system that eliminate rogue immune cells that could attacking the organism.

These discoveries are now enabling new treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

These laureates will divide a monetary award valued at 11m Swedish kronor.

Crucial Discoveries

"The work has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses operates and why we do not all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," commented the head of the award panel.

This trio's studies address a fundamental question: In what way does the defense system defend us from countless infections while keeping our own tissues unharmed?

The body's protection system uses immune cells that search for indicators of disease, including viruses and bacteria it has never encountered.

Such cells employ sensors—known as receptors—that are generated randomly in countless combinations.

That gives the immune system the ability to combat a wide array of threats, but the randomness of the process inevitably produces white blood cells that may target the body.

Security Guards of the Body

Scientists previously understood that a portion of these problematic defense cells were destroyed in the thymus—the site where white blood cells develop.

The latest Nobel Prize recognizes the identification of T-reg cells—described as the body's "security guards"—which patrol the body to disarm other immune cells that assault the body's own tissues.

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

The Nobel panel stated, "These findings have established a novel area of investigation and accelerated the development of new treatments, for example for cancer and immune disorders."

Regarding cancer, T-regs prevent the system from attacking the tumor, so studies are aimed at reducing their quantity.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are exploring boosting T-reg cells so the organism is no longer being harmed. A comparable method could also be useful in reducing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Innovative Studies

Professor Sakaguchi, of a Japanese institution, performed experiments on mice that had their immune gland removed, leading to self-attack conditions.

He demonstrated that introducing defense cells from other animals could prevent the illness—suggesting there was a system for blocking immune cells from harming the host.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the a research center in a US city, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in a California city, were studying an inherited immune disorder in rodents and people that led to the identification of a genetic factor vital for the way regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their groundbreaking research has uncovered how the immune system is controlled by T-reg cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the body's own tissues," commented a leading physiology expert.

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