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The prestigious award in Physiology or Medicine has been granted for revolutionary discoveries that clarify how the immune system targets harmful pathogens while sparing the body's own cells.

A trio of esteemed researchers—Japan's Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—share this accolade.

Their work identified unique "security guards" within the defense system that eliminate malfunctioning immune cells that could harming the organism.

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

These winners will share a monetary award worth 11m SEK.

Decisive Findings

"Their work has been essential for understanding how the body's defenses operates and the reason we do not all suffer from severe autoimmune diseases," stated the head of the award panel.

This team's research address a fundamental mystery: In what way does the immune system protect us from countless infections while keeping our healthy cells intact?

Our body's protection system employs immune cells that scan for indicators of disease, even pathogens and bacteria it has never encountered.

These cells utilize sensors—called receptors—that are generated randomly in countless combinations.

This provides the defense network the ability to fight a broad range of threats, but the randomness of the mechanism unavoidably creates immune cells that may target the host.

Protectors of the Body

Scientists previously understood that a portion of these problematic white blood cells were eliminated in the thymus—the site where immune cells mature.

This year's Nobel Prize honors the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the body's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the system to neutralize any immune cells that attack the healthy cells.

We know that this mechanism fails in autoimmune diseases such as type-1 diabetes, MS, and RA.

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

Regarding cancer, regulatory T-cells block the body from fighting the growth, so studies are aimed at reducing their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are testing boosting regulatory T-cells so the organism is not being harmed. A comparable method could also be useful in minimizing the risks of transplanted organ rejection.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed experiments on rodents that had their immune gland removed, leading to autoimmune disease.

He demonstrated that injecting defense cells from other mice could prevent the disease—suggesting there was a mechanism for blocking defenders from harming the body.

Mary Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, currently at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were studying an inherited autoimmune disease in rodents and people that resulted in the discovery of a genetic factor critical for how regulatory T-cells function.

"The groundbreaking work has uncovered how the body's defenses is controlled by regulatory T cells, preventing it from accidentally targeting the healthy cells," said a leading biological science specialist.

"This research is a remarkable illustration of how basic biological research can have broad implications for human health."