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This year's prestigious award in medical science has been granted for transformative findings that illuminate how the body's defense network attacks harmful infections while protecting the body's own cells.

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

Their research identified unique "sentinels" within the defense system that remove malfunctioning defense cells capable of harming the body.

The discoveries are now enabling new therapies for immune disorders and malignancies.

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

Crucial Discoveries

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

The trio's studies explain a fundamental question: How does the defense system defend us from numerous invaders while keeping our healthy cells unharmed?

The immune system uses immune cells that scan for signs of infection, including viruses and bacteria it has never encountered.

Such defenders utilize detectors—known as recognition units—that are produced randomly in a vast number of variations.

That provides the defense network the ability to fight a wide array of invaders, but the unpredictability of the mechanism unavoidably produces white blood cells that can target the host.

Security Guards of the Body

Researchers previously understood that some of these harmful white blood cells were eliminated in the immune organ—the site where white blood cells mature.

The latest award recognizes the discovery of regulatory T-cells—described as the body's "peacekeepers"—which patrol the system to neutralize any defenders that attack the body's own tissues.

It is known that this process malfunctions in autoimmune diseases such as juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The prize committee added, "The discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of research and spurred the development of innovative treatments, for example for cancer and immune disorders."

In malignancies, regulatory T-cells block the system from attacking the tumor, so studies are focused on reducing their quantity.

For autoimmune diseases, trials are exploring boosting regulatory T-cells so the body is not under attack. A similar approach could also be useful in minimizing the risks of organ transplant rejection.

Innovative Experiments

Prof Shimon Sakaguchi, from a Japanese institution, performed experiments on rodents that had their immune gland removed, causing self-attack conditions.

The researcher demonstrated that injecting defense cells from other mice could prevent the illness—implying there was a mechanism for preventing defenders from attacking the host.

Dr. Brunkow, affiliated with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Dr. Ramsdell, now at Sonoma Biotherapeutics in a California city, were studying an inherited autoimmune disease in mice and humans that resulted in the identification of a gene vital for the way regulatory T-cells operate.

"The pioneering work has uncovered how the immune system is controlled by regulatory T cells, preventing it from mistakenly targeting the healthy cells," said a prominent physiology specialist.

"The work is a striking illustration of how fundamental biological study can have broad consequences for public health."