Researchers have unveiled the first real look at a mitochondrial protein strongly linked to Parkinson’s disease, revealing key details in how its malfunction might play a critical role in the disease’s progress.

Scientists have known for more than two decades that mutations in the gene for a protein called PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) can trigger early-onset Parkinson’s, but the mechanisms at play have remained a mystery.

A team of scientists from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Australia used advanced imaging technology to not only determine the structure of PINK1, but to show how the protein attaches to cellular power houses and how they are activated.