Glutenin-chitosan 3D porous scaffolds with tunable stiffness and systematized microstructure for cultured meat model

A glutenin (G)-chitosan (CS) complex (G-CS) was cross-linked by water annealing with aim to prepare structured 3D porous cultured meat scaffolds (CMS) here. The CMS has pore diameters ranging from 18 to 67 μm and compressive moduli from 16.09 to 60.35 kPa, along with the mixing ratio of G/CS. SEM showed the porous organized structure of CMS. FTIR and CD showed the increscent content of α-helix and β-sheet of G and strengthened hydrogen-bondings among G-CS molecules, which strengthened the stiffness of G-CS. Raman spectra exhibited an increase of G concentration resulted in higher crosslinking of disulfide-bonds in G-CS, which aggrandized the bridging effect of G-CS and maintained its three-dimensional network. Cell viability assay and immuno-fluorescence staining showed that G-CS effectively facilitated the growth and myogenic differentiation of porcine skeletal muscle satellite cells (PSCs). CLSM displayed that cells first occupied the angular space of hexagon and then ring-growth circle of PSCs were orderly formed on G-CS. The texture and color of CMS which loaded proliferated PSCs were fresh-meat like. These results showed that physical cross-linked G-CS scaffolds are the biocompatible and stable adaptable extracellular matrix with appropriate architectural cues and natural micro-environment for structured CM models.