The fibroblast growth factor (FGF) homologous factor FGF13, a noncanonical FGF, has been best characterized as a voltage-gated Na + channel auxiliary subunit. Other cellular functions have been suggested, but not explored. In inducible, cardiac-specific Fgf13 knockout mice, we found-even in the context of the expected reduction in Na + channel current-an unanticipated protection from the maladaptive hypertrophic response to pressure overload. To uncover the underlying mechanisms, we searched for components of the FGF13 interactome in cardiomyocytes and discovered the complete set of the cavin family of caveolar coat proteins. Detailed biochemical investigations showed that FGF13 acts as a negative regulator of caveolae abundance in cardiomyocytes by controlling the relative distribution of cavin 1 between the sarcolemma and cytosol. In cardiac-specific Fgf13 knockout mice, cavin 1 redistribution to the sarcolemma stabilized the caveolar structural protein caveolin 3. The consequent increase in caveolae density afforded protection against pressure overload-induced cardiac dysfunction by two mechanisms: (i) enhancing cardioprotective signaling pathways enriched in caveolae, and (ii) increasing the caveolar membrane reserve available to buffer membrane tension. Thus, our results uncover unexpected roles for a FGF homologous factor and establish FGF13 as a regulator of caveolae-mediated mechanoprotection and adaptive hypertrophic signaling. (1), share a core domain with homology to canonical FGFs, but FHFs are not secreted, do not bind or activate FGF receptors, and do not function as growth factors (2). Instead, FHFs bind directly to voltage-gated Na + channels, modulating channel gating and trafficking (3, 4). Widely expressed in the brain (1), FHFs have been implicated in neurologic diseases such as spinocerebellar ataxia 27, caused by missense mutations in FGF14 that diminish Na + channel current, disrupt channel localization, and impair neuronal excitability (5-7).In addition to their broad distribution in the central nervous system, FHFs are expressed in the mammalian heart (1). Their roles in regulating cardiac function, however, have only been recently investigated. We showed that FGF13, the predominant FHF in rodent heart and a common transcript in human heart (8), directly binds to the C terminus of cardiac Na V 1.5 Na + channels, and thereby regulates current density and conduction velocity by affecting channel gating and surface expression (9). Similarly, mutations that disrupt interaction between Na V 1.5 and FGF12, the major human cardiac FHF, have been linked to lifethreatening arrhythmia syndromes (8, 10). In addition to regulating Na + channels, FHFs can modulate voltage-gated Ca 2+ channels (11, 12). Fgf13 knockdown in adult rodent ventricular cardiomyocytes decreased Ca V 1.2 current density, perturbed Ca V 1.2 localization at the dyad, and thereby affected Ca 2+ -induced Ca 2+ release (11). Because previous studies were conducted in cultured cardiomyocytes, however, the in vivo roles for FHFs in ...