Selective Neuronal Vulnerability to Alpha-Synuclein Pathology in Parkinson’s Disease: A Critical Review of Mechanistic Rationale and Biomarker Stratification

Abstract

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) exhibits remarkable clinical heterogeneity, with substantial variability in motor progression, cognitive decline, and the development of non-motor manifestations. Although the propagation of pathological alpha-synuclein is considered a central mechanism of PD pathogenesis, it does not fully explain why specific neuronal populations demonstrate differential susceptibility to degeneration. Emerging evidence suggests that selective neuronal vulnerability is determined by the interaction of multiple biological domains, including calcium homeostasis, mitochondrial bioenergetic capacity, lysosomal function, axonal architecture, synaptic resilience, and neuroinflammatory responses. Methods: A structured critical narrative review was performed using PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science databases from inception to March 2025. Only full-text articles published in English and peer-reviewed journals were included. Evidence from human post-mortem studies, genetic analyses, biomarker investigations, experimental models, induced pluripotent stem cell studies, and longitudinal clinical cohorts were systematically synthesised to identify the principal mechanisms underlying selective neuronal vulnerability and their potential translational application. To capture evidence published after this electronic cut-off, a supplementary manual review of reference lists of key systematic reviews and landmark publications was conducted up to the date of manuscript submission; references with 2025 or 2026 publication dates entered through this supplementary process. The supplementary manual review was conducted as a targeted scan of reference lists of key systematic reviews and high-impact publications identified during the primary search and did not constitute an independent updated systematic search. Results: Five interconnected biological domains emerged as key determinants of neuronal susceptibility in PD: calcium-mediated metabolic stress associated with autonomous pacemaker activity, mitochondrial dysfunction and energetic failure, impaired lysosomal degradation and proteostasis (particularly involving the GBA1–glucocerebrosidase pathway), vulnerability related to extensive axonal and synaptic architecture, and neuroinflammatory mechanisms involving microglial and astrocytic activation. Among these domains, the lysosomal pathway currently provides the strongest translational link between molecular mechanisms and measurable clinical outcomes. Based on this integrated framework, we propose the Parkinson’s Vulnerability Index (PVI), a hypothesis-generating multidimensional model combining genetic, enzymatic, alpha-synuclein seeding, cognitive, olfactory, and neuroimaging biomarkers to facilitate biological stratification and improve the design of mechanism-targeted clinical trials. Conclusions: Selective neuronal vulnerability provides a complementary framework to alpha-synuclein propagation models for understanding the heterogeneity of PD. The proposed PVI is not intended as a diagnostic or prognostic clinical instrument but as a research tool requiring prospective validation. Future precision medicine approaches in PD may benefit from integrating vulnerability-related biomarkers with existing biological staging systems to identify patients most likely to benefit from targeted disease-modifying therapies.