Derivation and Characterization of Novel Cytocompatible Decellularized Tissue Scaffold for Cellular Farming

Consumption of conventional animal meat is associated with various zoonotic and chronic diseases which is putting an extra burden on the health sector. Previously, COVID-19, an animal-derived zoonotic disease, exerted detrimental effects globally. Thus, an alternative approach to produce safe and disease-free meat could pave the way to reduce the burden on the health sector. Cellular farming has been suggested and emerged as a potential alternative approach to produce the disease-free cultured meat. However, an appropriate scaffold is key to develop an alternative animal protein in the form of cultured meat or lab-grown meat. Decellularized tissues have been suggested as a potential scaffold for cultured meat production as it provides a suitable environment and niche for the proliferation and growth of the cells and helps to develop the 3D tissues in the laboratory. In the present study, decellularized mushroom tissue has been derived, characterized and the myogenic differentiation capacity of the scaffold was evaluated. The outcome of the study would provide an edible and natural scaffold to produce a safe and disease-free source of animal protein.