Global transcriptome profiles provide insights into muscle cell development and differentiation on microstructured marine biopolymer scaffolds for cultured meat production.

Biomaterial scaffolds play a pivotal role in the advancement of cultured meat technology, facilitating essential processes like cell attachment, growth, specialization, and alignment. Currently, there exists limited knowledge concerning the creation of consumable scaffolds tailored for cultured meat applications. This investigation aimed to produce edible scaffolds featuring both smooth and patterned surfaces, utilizing biomaterials such as salmon gelatin, alginate, agarose and glycerol, pertinent to cultured meat and adhering to food safety protocols. The primary objective of this research was to uncover variations in transcriptomes profiles between flat and microstructured edible scaffolds fabricated from marine-derived biopolymers, leveraging high-throughput sequencing techniques. Expression analysis revealed noteworthy disparities in transcriptome profiles when comparing the flat and microstructured scaffold configurations against a control condition. Employing gene functional enrichment analysis for the microstructured versus flat scaffold conditions yielded substantial enrichment ratios, highlighting pertinent gene modules linked to the development of skeletal muscle. Notable functional aspects included filament sliding, muscle contraction, and the organization of sarcomeres. By shedding light on these intricate processes, this study offers insights into the fundamental mechanisms underpinning the generation of muscle-specific cultured meat.

Micropatterned Nanofiber Scaffolds of Salmon Gelatin, Chitosan, and Poly(vinyl alcohol) for Muscle Tissue Engineering.

The development of scaffolds that mimic the aligned fibrous texture of the extracellular matrix has become an important requirement in muscle tissue engineering. Electrospinning is a widely used technique to fabricate biomimetic scaffolds. Therefore, a biopolymer blend composed of salmon gelatin (SG), chitosan (Ch), and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was developed by electrospinning onto a micropatterned (MP) collector, resulting in a biomimetic scaffold for seeding muscle cells. Rheology and surface tension studies were performed to determine the optimum solution concentration and viscosity for electrospinning. The scaffold microstructure was analyzed using SEM to determine the nanofiber's diameter and orientation. Blends of SG/Ch/PVA exhibited better electrospinnability and handling properties than pure PVA. The resulting scaffolds consist of a porous surface (∼46%), composed of a random fiber distribution, for a flat collector and scaffolds with regions of aligned nanofibers for the MP collector. The nanofiber diameters are 141 ± 2 and 151 ± 2 nm for the flat and MP collector, respectively. In vitro studies showed that myoblasts cultured on scaffold SG/Ch/PVA presented a high rate of cell growth. Furthermore, the aligned nanofibers on the SG/Ch/PVA scaffold provide a suitable platform for myoblast alignment.