PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Stout, Andrew J.
AU  - Zhang, Xiaoli
AU  - Letcher, Sophia M.
AU  - Rittenberg, Miriam L.
AU  - Shub, Michelle
AU  - Chai, Kristin M.
AU  - Kaul, Maya
AU  - Kaplan, David L.
TI  - Engineered autocrine signaling eliminates muscle cell FGF2 requirements for cultured meat production
AID  - 10.1101/2023.04.17.537163
DP  - 2023 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2023.04.17.537163
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2023/04/17/2023.04.17.537163.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2023/04/17/2023.04.17.537163.full
AB  - Cultured meat is a promising technology that faces substantial cost barriers which are currently driven largely by the price of media components. Growth factors such as fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) drive the cost of serum-free media for relevant cells including muscle satellite cells. Here, we engineered immortalized bovine satellite cells (iBSCs) for inducible expression of FGF2 and/or mutated RasG12V in order to overcome media growth factor requirements through autocrine signaling. Engineered cells were able to proliferate over multiple passages in FGF2-free medium, thereby eliminating the need for this costly component. Additionally, cells maintained their myogenicity, albeit with reduced differentiation capacity. Ultimately, this offers a proof-of-principle for lower-cost cultured meat production through cell line engineering.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.