The Structure of the Drp1 Lattice on Membrane

Mitochondrial health relies on the membrane fission mediated by dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1). Previous structural studies of Drp1 on remodeled membranes were hampered by heterogeneity, leaving a critical gap in the understanding of the mitochondrial fission mechanism. Here we present a cryo-electron microscopy structure of full-length human Drp1 decorated on membrane tubules. Using the reconstruction of average subtracted tubular regions (RASTR) technique, we report that Drp1 forms a locally ordered lattice along the tubule without global helical symmetry. The filaments in the lattice are similar to dynamin rungs with conserved stalk interactions. Adjacent filaments are connected by GTPase domain interactions in a novel stacked conformation. Additionally, we observed contact between Drp1 and membrane that can be assigned to variable domain sequence. We identified two states of the Drp1 lattice representing conformational changes related to membrane curvature differences. Together these structures revealed a putative mechanism by which Drp1 constricts mitochondria membranes in a stepwise, “ratchet” manner.