Porcine skeletal muscle tissue fabrication for cultured meat production using three-dimensional bioprinting technology

Abstract

Cultured meat produced through in vitro cell culture technology is regarded as a technical revolution. In this study, three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technology was used to mimic the growth environment in vivo and construct a 3D culture system in vitro. Hydrogel bioinks, namely, sodium alginate-gelatin and gelatin-methacrylate (GelMA)–silk fibroin, produced using two different curing processes were blended, and their rheological properties, mechanical properties, and biocompatibilities were compared. The 4% GelMA‒20% silk fibroin hydrogel (GS2) demonstrated good performance and was hybridized with porcine skeletal muscle satellite cells for 3D printing to construct network structures of size 15 mm × 15 mm and porosity 1 000 μm in 4-, 6-, and 8-layer structures. After 16 days of culture, 4- and 6-layer grid structures formed compact muscle fibers organized by multinucleated myotubes. These results suggested that 3D bioprinting and GelMA-silk fibroin hydrogels have great potential in fabricating porcine skeletal muscle tissue for use as cultured meat.

Keywords

• Cultured meat
• 3D bioprinting
• Hydrogel bioinks
• GelMA-silk fibroin
• Multinucleated myotubes