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Peridynamic Modeling Of Ruptures In Biomembranes, Michael Taylor, Irep Gözen, Samir Patel, Aldo Jesorka, Katia Bertoldi

Michael Taylor

We simulate the formation of spontaneous ruptures in supported phospholipid double bilayer membranes, using peridynamic modeling. Experiments performed on spreading double bilayers typically show two distinct kinds of ruptures, floral and fractal, which form spontaneously in the distal (upper) bilayer at late stages of double bilayer formation on high energy substrates. It is, however, currently unresolved which factors govern the occurrence of either rupture type. Variations in the distance between the two bilayers, and the occurrence of interconnections (“pinning sites”) are suspected of contributing to the process. Our new simulations indicate that the pinned regions which form, presumably due to …