A member of the serine / threonine protein kinase family, PTEN induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) is a tumor suppressor. PINK1 is primarily located in mitochondria, and is ubiquitously expressed in testis, skeletal muscle, and heart tissue. at lower levels in pancreas, ovary, brain, placenta, kidney, liver, prostate and small intestine. During cellular stress PINK1 protects against mitochondrial dysfunction by inducing phosphorylation mitochondrial proteins. PINK1 mutations may give rise to different autophosphorylation activity. Mutations in the PINK1 gene (PARK6) are associated with early onset Parkinson's disease, a recessive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by resting tremor, muscular rigidity, bradykinesia and postural instability. Parkinson's disease generally involves the presence of intraneuronal accumulations of aggregated proteins (Lewy bodies) in brain neurons.