Scientists at Dundee University have made a major breakthrough in the fight against Parkinson's disease.

After a decade of research they have identified the structure of a key enzyme protecting the brain against disease called PINK1.

This new enzyme contains kinase, which plays a critical role in protecting brain cells against stress.

The research team said solving the 3D structure and inner workings of PINK1 represented a major breakthrough.

Previous work had indicated the main role of PINK1 is to sense damage to the energy centres of cells known as mitochondria and then switch on a protective pathway involving the targeting of two key proteins, ubiquitin and Parkin, to reduce the damage.

How this occurred was unknown but in the new research, published in the journal eLife, the team of Dundee scientists reveal PINK1 has unique control elements not found in other enzymes of this class.

This explains how it targets ubiquitin and Parkin to exert its protective role in Parkinson's.

"Solving the structure and workings of PINK1 gives us crucial insights in to how it exerts a protective role in Parkinson's," said Dr Miratul Muqit, Wellcome Trust Senior Clinical Fellow and Consultant Neurologist at the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit (MRC-PPU) in the School of Life Sciences, who co-led the research team with Professor Daan van Aalten at the University.

"That knowledge can lead to the development of new drugs which could be designed to `switch on' PINK1 to the benefit of patients with Parkinson's."

Michael Dunn, head of Wellcome's Genetics and Molecular Sciences team, said: "The PINK1 protein has been the focus of research all over the world so this finding from the Dundee team is a fantastic step forward for the community.

"If we understand the structure of this protein, which holds so many clues into what goes wrong in Parkinson's, it may help us develop novel drugs to protect against this devastating disease.

"Basic research is fundamental to understanding and treating many diseases and only by working in collaboration can we hope to make breakthroughs like this."