Spatial transcriptomics links hippocampal synaptic remodeling to microglial phagocytosis in synucleinopathy

Synucleinopathies, including Parkinson's disease (PD) and Lewy body dementia (LBD), are characterized by misfolding and aggregation of α-synuclein (α-syn) into Lewy bodies, a key pathological hallmark. These disorders display region-specific vulnerability, with PD affecting the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system and LBD involving the neocortex. However, the molecular basis of selective vulnerability, particularly hippocampal involvement, remains poorly understood.

We aimed to determine whether the G2-3 α-synuclein transgenic mouse model recapitulates region-specific vulnerabilities observed in human synucleinopathies and to identify molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying region-specific pathology.

Six-month-old G2-3 mice and wild-type (WT) littermates underwent spatial transcriptomics profiling, followed by Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG enrichment analyses. Key findings were validated using immunohistochemistry and cell-type deconvolution.

Spatial transcriptomics revealed region-specific transcriptomic alterations in the G2-3 synucleinopathy mouse brain, with the hippocampus-particularly the DG and CA subfields-showing the most pronounced changes. GO analysis highlighted enrichment of synapse-related processes, and immunohistochemistry confirmed reduced and mislocalized PSD95 with glial colocalization. KEGG analysis further identified MAPK signaling activation, validated by increased neuronal p-ERK, underscoring hippocampus-specific molecular and structural vulnerabilities under α-syn pathology.

Our study demonstrates that the hippocampus is a selectively vulnerable region in the G2-3 synucleinopathy mouse model, showing both transcriptional and structural synaptic alterations. Spatial transcriptomics revealed hippocampal enrichment of synapse-related processes and MAPK signaling, which were corroborated by immunohistochemical evidence of PSD95 mislocalization and neuronal p-ERK activation. These results provide mechanistic insights into hippocampal vulnerability and highlight spatial transcriptomics as a powerful tool to uncover region-specific disease mechanisms in synucleinopathies.