Lewy pathology composed of α-synuclein is the key pathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD), found both in dopaminergic neurons that control motor function, and throughout cortical regions that control cognitive function. Recent work has investigated which dopaminergic neurons are most susceptible to death, but little is known about which neurons are vulnerable to developing Lewy pathology and what molecular changes an aggregate induces. In the current study, we use spatial transcriptomics to selectively capture whole transcriptome signatures from cortical neurons with Lewy pathology compared to those without pathology in the same brains. We find, both in PD and in a mouse model of PD, that there are specific classes of excitatory neurons that are vulnerable to developing Lewy pathology in the cortex. Further, we identify conserved gene expression changes in aggregate-bearing neurons that we designate the Lewy-associated molecular dysfunction from aggregates (LAMDA) signature. This gene signature indicates that neurons with aggregates downregulate synaptic, mitochondrial, ubiquitin-proteasome, endo-lysosomal, and cytoskeletal genes and upregulate DNA repair and complement/cytokine genes. However, beyond DNA repair gene upregulation, we find that neurons also activate apoptotic pathways, suggesting that if DNA repair fails, neurons undergo programmed cell death. Our results identify neurons vulnerable to Lewy pathology in the PD cortex and identify a conserved signature of molecular dysfunction in both mice and humans.

Spatial transcriptomics reveals molecular dysfunction associated with Lewy pathology