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This year's Nobel Prize in medical science was granted for revolutionary findings that illuminate how the immune system attacks dangerous pathogens while protecting the body's own cells.

Three esteemed researchers—from Japan Shimon Sakaguchi and US scientists Mary Brunkow and Dr. Ramsdell—share this honor.

The research uncovered unique "sentinels" within the immune system that eliminate rogue defense cells that could harming the body.

The findings are now enabling new therapies for autoimmune diseases and cancer.

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

Crucial Findings

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

This team's research explain a fundamental question: How does the defense system protect us from countless invaders while leaving our own tissues intact?

Our immune system uses white blood cells that scan for signs of infection, even pathogens and bacteria it has not met before.

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

This provides the defense network the capacity to fight a broad range of threats, but the unpredictability of the mechanism unavoidably produces immune cells that can attack the body.

Protectors of the Immune System

Scientists earlier knew that some of these harmful defense cells were destroyed in the immune organ—the site where immune cells mature.

The latest award honors the identification of T-reg cells—described as the body's "peacekeepers"—which travel through the body to neutralize other immune cells that assault the body's own tissues.

It is known that this process fails in self-attack conditions such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

A prize committee stated, "These findings have established a novel area of investigation and spurred the development of innovative therapies, for example for tumors and autoimmune diseases."

In cancer, T-regs block the system from attacking the tumor, so research are focused on reducing their numbers.

In autoimmune diseases, trials are testing increasing regulatory T-cells so the organism is not being harmed. A similar method could also be effective in minimizing the chances of organ transplant failure.

Pioneering Experiments

Professor Shimon Sakaguchi, from Osaka University, performed experiments on rodents that had their immune gland extracted, causing self-attack conditions.

He demonstrated that injecting defense cells from healthy animals could stop the disease—suggesting there was a mechanism for preventing immune cells from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, from the a research center in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, currently at a biotech firm in a California city, were investigating an inherited autoimmune disease in mice and humans that led to the identification of a gene critical for how T-regs function.

"The pioneering work has uncovered how the immune system is controlled by T-reg cells, preventing it from accidentally targeting the healthy cells," said a leading biological science expert.

"The work is a striking example of how basic physiological research can have far-reaching implications for public health."