Characterization of the growth and differentiation potential of chicken satellite cell during cultivation on cellulose acetate scaffolds for cultured meat production

Abstract

The future consumption of animal protein by humanity increasingly relies on alternative, environmentally friendly, and animal welfare-conscious sources. One such promising alternative is cultured meat, produced by cultivating stem cells on scaffolds that facilitate the growth of muscle tissue under controlled in vitro conditions. In collaboration with researchers from CEFET-MG, our research group has been exploring the feasibility of producing cultured chicken meat through the cultivation of primary muscle cells on cellulose acetate nanofiber (CAN) scaffolds. In this project, we assessed the growth and differentiation potential of C2C12 myoblasts and chicken primary muscle cells over a 28-day period on CAN scaffolds. We evaluated long-term cell viability using the MTT assay and identified key myogenic markers for proliferation and differentiation through immunofluorescence assays. Additionally, we analyzed the expression patterns of these markers via qPCR to monitor the development of cells on the scaffold. Our findings demonstrate that the cells successfully adapted to the scaffold, maintaining their proliferative potential over an extended period without differentiation. This suggests excellent biocompatibility of the scaffold for long-term cell culture maintenance. Beyond the development of an alternative animal protein source, these results indicate the potential to establish a protocol for in vitro muscle tissue production, with applications in skeletal tissue engineering.