Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 impairs the release sites of Parkinson’s disease vulnerable dopamine axons

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is defined pathologically by loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). Yet synaptic dysfunction emerges much earlier, making it essential to define the mechanisms that drive early nigrostriatal deregulation. In the SNc, molecularly distinct dopamine neuron subtypes show differential susceptibility to PD. In vivo fiber photometry of...