A dynamic oligomerization network coordinates hemagglutinin-mediated membrane fusion on influenza virions

Abstract

Influenza A virus (IAV) entry is mediated by the trimeric glycoprotein hemagglutinin (HA), which undergoes low-pH-triggered conformational rearrangements to drive membrane fusion. Although biochemical and biophysical studies have long suggested that HA trimers function cooperatively, the structural basis for this cooperativity on intact virions has remained unclear. Here, using cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) and subtomogram averaging (STA), we determine the in situ structure of prefusion HA on native virions at 3.58 Å resolution, enabling atomic modeling of membrane-anchored HA. We show that neighbouring HA trimers engage in lateral interactions mediated by HA1 subunits, assembling into flexible dimeric, pentameric, and hexameric organizations that form locally ordered lattices on the viral surface. A 6.0 Å reconstruction of the HA-dimer reveals the molecular interfaces underlying these assemblies. Disruption of the dominant HA1-HA1 interaction markedly impairs viral entry and slows membrane fusion kinetics. Together, these findings define a virion-level mechanism for coordinated HA activation and establish a structural framework for understanding cooperative membrane fusion by class-I viral fusion proteins.