Biocompatibility, Physicochemical Properties, and Allergenicity Evaluation of Fish Gelatin Hydrogels as Cell-Cultured Meat Scaffold Material

Cell-cultured meat is characterized by environmental sustainability, animal welfare, and high efficiency in which cell scaffolds play an irreplaceable role. Fish gelatin, as a cell scaffold material, demonstrated excellent biocompatibility with C2C12 cells and formed hydrogels with superior printability and hydrophilicity (contact angle of 70°). LC-MS/MS combined with bioinformatics analysis exhibited that the sequence homology of the Fibrillar collagen NC1 domain-containing protein in fish gelatin with other collagens was greater than 80%, indicating high susceptibility to cross-reactivity. Besides, 56 linear epitopes may be potential contributors to its allergenicity. The food allergy model indicated that the allergenicity of fish gelatin was lower than that of ovalbumin, including milder anaphylaxis and lower levels of IgE, inflammatory factors, vascular permeability, and intestinal permeability. Further cellular studies showed that compared with that of OVA, fish gelatin induced lower expression levels of IgE high-affinity receptors, which in turn triggered lower calcium influx and degranulation. The study elucidated the potential allergenicity of fish gelatin to provide technical support for hypoallergenic cell-cultured meat.