A “non-muscle” α-actinin is an intrinsic component of the cardiac Z-disc and regulates sarcomere turnover, contractility, and heart remodeling

Cardiac sarcomeres generate the fundamental forces behind each heartbeat and are thought to contain only muscle-specific cytoskeletal proteins. We show that a widely expressed actin cross-linking protein, α-actinin 4 (ACTN4), is a sarcomere component of the human and zebrafish heart in vivo and in human iPSC-derived cardiac myocytes (CMs) in vitro . A confluence of biochemical experiments, immunofluorescence, and AI modeling suggest ACTN4 forms a heterodimeric complex with muscle-specific ACTN2 at the cardiac Z-disc, the cardiac sarcomere border. ACTN4 depletion from human iPSC-CMs stabilizes canonical sarcomere proteins and drives contractility-dependent cellular hypertrophy while ACTN4 overexpression destabilizes sarcomeres. ACTN4 depletion from zebrafish embryos specifically increases ventricular contractility which drives atrial enlargement, suggesting biomechanically driven atrial remodeling. ACTN4-associated phenotypes in both model systems lack hallmarks of cardiac disease models and an ACTN4 variant in humans is associated with reduced risk for disease. Our findings suggest a “non-muscle” actinin regulates heart contractility and influences clinical outcomes related to heart failure.