Tissue-like cultured fish fillets through a synthetic food pipeline

• Published in: NPJ science of food Vol. 7; no. 1; p. 17
• Main Authors: Xu, Enbo, Niu, Ruihao, Lao, Jihui, Zhang, Shengliang, Li, Jie, Zhu, Yiyuan, Shi, Huimin, Zhu, Qingqing, Chen, Yijian, Jiang, Yuyan, Wang, Wenjun, Yin, Jun, Chen, Qihe, Huang, Xiao, Chen, Jun, Liu, Donghong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 06.05.2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/1647; 631/80; Adipocytes; Alginic acid; Animal tissues; Cattle; Cell culture; Cell differentiation; Cells (biology); Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chemistry/Food Science; Differentiation; Engineering; Fatty acids; Fibroblasts; Fillets; Fish; Food Microbiology; Food Science; Gelatin; Laboratories; Livestock; Meat; Meat production; Morphology; Muscles; Musculoskeletal system; Nutrition; Satellite cells; Scaffolds; Seafood; Sodium alginate; Stem cells; Synthetic food; Three dimensional printing; Transforming growth factor-b; Yes-associated protein
• ISSN: 2396-8370; 2396-8370
• DOI: 10.1038/s41538-023-00194-2

Tissue-like cultured meats of some livestock have successfully been established by different approaches. However, the production of a structure similar to fish fillets is still challenging. Here, we develop tissue-like cultured fish fillets by assembly of large yellow croaker muscle fibers and adipocytes with 3D-printed gel. Inhibition of Tgf-β and Notch signals significantly promoted myogenic differentiation of piscine satellite cells (PSCs). The mixture of fish gelatin and sodium alginate combined with a p53 inhibitor and a Yap activator supported PSC viability and proliferation. Based on the texture of fish muscle tissue, a 3D scaffold was constructed by gelatin-based gel mixed with PSCs. After proliferation and differentiation, the muscle scaffold was filled with cultured piscine adipocytes. Finally, tissue-like fish fillets with 20 × 12 × 4 mm were formed, consisting of 5.67 × 10 7 muscles and 4.02 × 10 7 adipocytes. The biomanufacture of tissue-like cultured fish fillet here could be a promising technology to customize meat production with high fidelity.