SNCA and infection: To examine the effects of A53T α-synuclein overexpression on mitophagy in the rat SNpc prior to dopaminergic neuron loss, adult female Sprague–Dawley rats received co-injections of AAV-mito-QC with either AAV-A53T α-synuclein or AAV-Empty control, and we measured the mito-QC reporter signal within this midbrain region 1 week post-infection (Fig. 4a).