Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42481460›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Comprehensive biophysical and structural profiling of alpha-actinin-2 variants reveals mechanistic diversity in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Maya Noureddine, Halina Mikolajek, Nathan Cowieson, Nikos Pinotsis, Paul Robinson, Alexandre Slater, Charles Redwood, Siobhan Loughna, Chris Denning, Fiyaz Mohammed and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Maya NoureddineDepartment of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. m.noureddine@bham.ac.uk.
Halina MikolajekDiamond Light Source Ltd, Didcot, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-0776-9974
Nathan CowiesonDiamond Light Source Ltd, Didcot, UK.
Nikos PinotsisInstitute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Birkbeck College, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-5096-257X
Paul RobinsonDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine and British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence Oxford, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Alexandre SlaterDepartment of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Charles RedwoodDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine and British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence Oxford, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-8673-7542
Siobhan LoughnaSchool of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3277-1438
Chris DenningBiodiscovery Institute, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Fiyaz Mohammed *Department of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. f.mohammed@bham.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-9022-0132
Katja Gehmlich *Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. k.gehmlich@bham.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0003-4019-1844

Funding

British Heart Foundation (BHF) AA/18/2/34218British Heart Foundation (BHF) BBC/F/21/220106British Heart Foundation (BHF) IA/F/23/275037British Heart Foundation (BHF) SP/F/22/150044; PG/21/10545RCUK | Medical Research Council (MRC) MR/V009540/1RCUK | Medical Research Council (MRC) MR/W007002/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a genetic disease associated with sudden cardiac death. Variants in alpha-actinin-2 (ACTN2), a Z-disc protein that anchors actin thin filaments have been implicated in HCM, yet their structural consequences remain poorly defined. Here, we characterise seventeen HCM-associated ACTN2 variants spanning multiple domains using an integrated and tiered workflow combining high-throughput assays, structural modelling and biophysical approaches. All variants display reduced solubility, with actin-binding domain (ABD) substitutions showing pronounced thermal instability by differential scanning fluorimetry. Modelling of nine variants predicts diverse pathogenic mechanisms including compromised actin-binding, impaired ABD regulatory conformations, disrupted dimerisation interfaces, and perturbed domain architecture. Crystal structures of two rod-domain variants reveal intact dimerisation despite modelling predictions. Actin-binding assays for ABD variants confirm altered actin engagement suggesting that binding dynamics may drive pathogenicity. Limited proteolysis indicates reduced structural stability across variants, while size-exclusion chromatography coupled with multi-angle light scattering or small-angle X-ray scattering (SEC-MALS/SAXS) shows a strong propensity for aggregation. Batch-mode SAXS further demonstrates early aggregation onset in selected ABD variants at elevated temperatures. Collectively, these findings establish that HCM-linked ACTN2 variants compromise protein integrity through multiple mechanisms, highlight the ABD as a hotspot of vulnerability and provide a potential framework for interpreting cardiomyopathy-associated variants.

Indexed as

ActininCardiomyopathy, HypertrophicActinsCrystallography, X-RayHumansModels, MolecularMutationProtein BindingProtein DomainsScattering, Small AngleX-Ray DiffractionActininActinsACTN2 protein, human

Identifiers

PMID42481460
PMCPMC13388997

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.