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This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for transformative findings that illuminate how the body's defense network targets dangerous infections while protecting the body's own cells.

A trio of esteemed researchers—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and American scientists Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell—received this honor.

Their work uncovered unique "sentinels" within the immune system that eliminate malfunctioning defense cells capable of harming the organism.

These findings are now paving the way for new therapies for immune disorders and malignancies.

The laureates will share a monetary award worth 11m Swedish kronor.

Decisive Discoveries

"The research has been essential for understanding how the immune system functions and the reason we don't all develop severe autoimmune diseases," stated the chair of the award panel.

The team's research address a core mystery: In what way does the defense system protect us from numerous infections while keeping our healthy cells unharmed?

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

These cells utilize detectors—called receptors—that are produced by chance in a vast number of combinations.

This provides the immune system the ability to combat a broad range of invaders, but the randomness of the process inevitably produces immune cells that can attack the body.

Security Guards of the Body

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

The latest Nobel Prize honors the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the immune system's "security guards"—which patrol the body to disarm any defenders that assault the healthy cells.

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

The prize committee added, "These findings have laid the foundation for a novel area of investigation and accelerated the creation of new therapies, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

Regarding cancer, T-regs block the body from attacking the tumor, so research are focused on reducing their quantity.

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

Innovative Studies

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

The researcher showed that injecting defense cells from healthy animals could stop the disease—suggesting there was a system for preventing immune cells from harming the host.

Dr. Brunkow, from the a research center in Seattle, and Fred Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco, were studying an inherited immune disorder in mice and humans that resulted in the identification of a genetic factor vital for the way regulatory T-cells operate.

"Their pioneering work has revealed how the body's defenses is controlled by regulatory T cells, stopping it from accidentally attacking the healthy cells," said a prominent physiology expert.

"The research is a remarkable example of how basic physiological study can have broad consequences for human health."