THE NUCLEUS: Mechanosensing in cardiac disease

•The nucleus houses and protects the genome and is surrounded by the nuclear lamina, which is encapsulated by the nuclear envelope.•The nuclear envelope acts as a mechanotransduction hub and provides a physical and biochemical link between the cytoskeleton and the genome.•Mutations in proteins of the nuclear envelope and lamina cause a variety of diseases, which commonly include skeletal and cardiac myopathies.•Pathogenic mechanisms include: nuclear fragility and genome damage; altered chromatin organisation, gene expression and signalling.•Therapies are currently lacking, but may target aberrant signalling pathways, gene expression or correction of the affected gene.