By putting ridges in a plant protein base, cultured muscle cells grew in a pattern that mimics the alignment of muscle fibers in animals. Credit: Adapted from ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering 2024, DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.3c01500
Key points:
- With increasing population growth, cultivated or lab-grown meat – animal muscle and fat cells grown in laboratory conditions – may be a solution for addressing future protein needs.
- Researchers were able to separately grow mouse muscle cells and fat cells on plant-based films made of the wheat protein glutenin.
- The research team plans to stack the cultured meat and fat layers to form a 3D meat-like alternative protein as they develop a less expensive approach for realistic cultivated meat products.
With increasing population growth, cultivated or lab-grown meat—animal muscle and fat cells grown in laboratory conditions—may be a solution for addressing future protein needs. A new study, published in ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, shows how an inexpensive plant protein can be used to grow muscle and fat layers that can be combined to produce meat-like textures.
Previous studies have shown that a plant-based film made of the wheat protein glutenin can cultivate cow skeletal muscle cells. In the current work, researchers wanted to develop plant-based films that were capable of growing textured muscle cells and fatty layers.
Researchers first isolated glutenin from wheat gluten and formed flat and ridge-patterned films. After depositing mouse skeletal muscle cells onto the glutenin bases, they incubated the cell-covered films for two weeks. They found that cells grew on both flat and ridged films, but that the glutenin was necessary for adequate growth. During the second week of culture, the cells grown on the pattern film formed long parallel bundles that resembled the fiber structure of animal muscles.
In a separate experiment, researchers deposited mouse fat cells on flat glutenin films. During the incubation period, the cells proliferated and differentiated—producing visible lipid and collagen deposits.
The research team plans to stack the cultured meat and fat layers attached to the glutenin film to form a 3D meat-like alternative protein. Although further work is needed to bring cell attachment to glutenin closer to the growth on animal derived biomaterial, the team hopes to use glutenin as a less expensive approach for realistic cultivated meat products.