Fig. 1. Schematic representation of regulating YAP activity by different mechanical cues. YAP is localized to the nucleus and active under mechanical conditions that lead to high intracellular tension such as a large adhesive area, stiff extracellular matrix (ECM), non-bendable substrates, cell stretching, or fluid shear stress. Conditions favoring low contractile forces in the cell, such as small adhesive areas, soft ECM, bendable substrates, relaxation of stretching forces, or culture in static media lead to YAP inactivation by nuclear exclusion.