20.500.12556/RUL-182722 Inhomogeneities generating mechanisms in membranes Spatial inhomogeneities are essential for biological membrane function. They could trigger structural transformations in membranes as well as changes in their global behaviours, and influence intercell communications. This study investigates how curvature-enforcing inclusions and in-plane orientational order generate such patterns. We focus on membranes exhibiting spherical topology, consisting of primary (lipids) and secondary (inclusions) constituents. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we show that, for a high enough concentration of inclusions, a budding instability appears below a critical temperature. The complexity of patterns is further increased if membranes exhibit in-plane order. According to the Gauss–Bonnet and Poincare–Hopf theorems in membranes of non-toroidal topology, topological defects are inevitably formed which introduce centres exhibiting strongly local elastic distortions. Regions exhibiting a large enough local curvature could trigger additional pairs of defects. Furthermore, condensed in-plane order could generate a Flory–Huggins-type contribution, promoting the assembly of membrane inclusions. Finally, memory effects are expected to play an important role. topology topological defects curvature membranes topologija topološki defekti ukrivljenost membrane true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2026-05-21 13:05:04 2026-05-21 13:05:05 2026-05-26 04:35:50 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 19 str. Vol. 16, issue 5, art. 331 May 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 577.35 2073-4352 278930947 278930947_Inhomogeneities_generating_mechanism_in_membranes_25.5.2026.pdf 278930947_Inhomogeneities_generating_mechanism_in_membranes_25.5.2026.pdf 1 F5F45471CD3A41B0294AFA4E49B09A94 b739014c2a02e505215b16a1e9c2c89b01f459d75a72be9830de981d58db9df6 4e55b24c-5819-11f1-b0ab-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=234378 https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/16/5/331 1 9a49b80f-5504-11f1-b0ab-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=234226 Fakulteta za elektrotehniko Zdravstvena fakulteta 0 0 0