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This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was granted for transformative findings that illuminate how the immune system targets dangerous pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.

Three renowned scientists—from Japan Prof. Sakaguchi and American experts Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.

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

These discoveries are now enabling new therapies for autoimmune diseases and malignancies.

The laureates will share a monetary award valued at 11 million Swedish kronor.

Decisive Findings

"The research has been decisive for understanding how the body's defenses operates and the reason we do not all suffer from severe self-attack conditions," commented the head of the Nobel Committee.

The trio's research explain a core question: In what way does the immune system defend us from countless invaders while keeping our healthy cells intact?

Our body's protection system employs white blood cells that search for indicators of infection, even viruses and germs it has never encountered.

Such cells employ sensors—called recognition units—that are generated randomly in a vast number of variations.

This provides the immune system the ability to combat a broad range of invaders, but the unpredictability of the mechanism inevitably produces immune cells that can target the host.

Security Guards of the Immune System

Scientists previously understood that some of these problematic defense cells were eliminated in the thymus—where immune cells mature.

The latest award honors the discovery of regulatory T-cells—known as the immune system's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the body to disarm any immune cells that attack the body's own tissues.

It is known that this mechanism malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, MS, and RA.

A Nobel panel added, "The discoveries have established a new field of investigation and accelerated the creation of innovative treatments, for example for tumors and immune disorders."

Regarding cancer, T-regs block the body from attacking the tumor, so research are aimed at lowering their quantity.

For self-attack disorders, trials are testing increasing T-reg cells so the organism is no longer being harmed. A comparable method could also be effective in reducing the chances of organ transplant rejection.

Pioneering Experiments

Prof Sakaguchi, of Osaka University, performed tests on mice that had their thymus extracted, causing autoimmune disease.

The researcher showed that injecting immune cells from other mice could stop the illness—suggesting there was a mechanism for blocking defenders from harming the body.

Dr. Brunkow, from the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at a biotech firm in San Francisco, were studying an genetic autoimmune disease in rodents and humans that led to the identification of a genetic factor critical for how regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their pioneering work has revealed how the immune system is controlled by regulatory T cells, stopping it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," said a leading biological science expert.

"This research is a remarkable illustration of how basic physiological research can have far-reaching implications for human health."