Designing Highly Aligned Cultured Meat with Nanopatterns-Assisted Bio-Printed Fat Scaffolds

Abstract

Purpose: Over the past decade, cultured meat has attracted considerable attention as a sustainable alternative. Mimicking highly aligned muscle tissues and adipose tissues to replicate real meat poses a significant challenge to the development of cultured meat. Recently, techniques involving co-culture or post-assembly of different types of tissues have been introduced for cultured meat production. However, there is a need for a more straightforward approach for simultaneously replicating muscle and fat tissues. Methods: In this study, we developed nano-cultured meat that recapitulates the structural and physiological characteristics of real meat. GelMA was dissolved in an oil-in-water emulsion to create a fat bioink, and a fat scaffold was fabricated using a digital light processing-based 3D printer. Subsequently, the empty spaces within the fat scaffold were filled with myoblast-laden hydrogel, followed by integration with nanopatterns. Results: The resultant nano-cultured meat not only mimics highly aligned muscle tissue similar to real meat but also allows for the tunable reproduction of fat tissue. Conclusion: Overall, the proposed nano-cultured meat offers valuable insights for achieving a high level of maturity and developing customizable next-generation cultured meat. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery.