Fig. 6. Myotube adhesion versus prestress. (A) Schematic of a sectioned myotube illustrates the balance between the prestress imposed by the actomyosin cytoskeleton (P_A, P_M), and the adhesive tension of the focal adhesions (T_FA). (B,B') Schematic of the adhesive energetics, contractile stress, and adhesive tension during differentiation. After fusion, myotubes growing on rigid substrates progress to a tightly bound state with high adhesive tension. Cells growing on soft substrates, including other cells, exhibit a reduced adhesive tension and a shallower adhesion energy at this nascent myotube phase. This allows the latter to progress to a fully striated state of high prestress.