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The prestigious award in medical science was awarded for transformative findings that illuminate how the immune system targets dangerous infections while protecting the body's own cells.

A trio of renowned scientists—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and American experts Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this honor.

Their research identified unique "sentinels" within the immune system that remove rogue defense cells capable of attacking the body.

These discoveries are now paving the way for innovative therapies for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

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

Crucial Discoveries

"The work has been essential for understanding how the body's defenses operates and the reason we do not all develop serious self-attack conditions," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

This trio's studies address a fundamental question: How does the immune system defend us from countless invaders while keeping our own tissues unharmed?

The immune system employs immune cells that search for signs of disease, even pathogens and bacteria it has not met before.

Such cells utilize detectors—called receptors—that are generated by chance in a vast number of variations.

That gives the immune system the capacity to fight a wide array of invaders, but the unpredictability of the mechanism unavoidably produces white blood cells that may target the host.

Protectors of the Body

Scientists previously knew that some of these harmful white blood cells were eliminated in the thymus—the site where immune cells mature.

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

We know that this mechanism fails in self-attack conditions such as type-1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The Nobel panel added, "These discoveries have established a new field of investigation and accelerated the development of new therapies, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

In malignancies, T-regs prevent the system from fighting the tumor, so research are aimed at reducing their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are testing boosting T-reg cells so the body is no longer under attack. A comparable method could also be useful in minimizing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Innovative Studies

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, conducted tests on mice that had their immune gland extracted, causing self-attack conditions.

He showed that introducing immune cells from other mice could stop the illness—implying there was a mechanism for preventing immune cells from harming the body.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were studying an genetic autoimmune disease in mice and people that resulted in the discovery of a genetic factor critical for the way regulatory T-cells function.

"The pioneering work has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by T-reg cells, stopping it from mistakenly attacking the body's own tissues," commented a prominent biological science expert.

"The research is a remarkable illustration of how basic biological research can have far-reaching implications for public health."