An engineered bovine mesenchymal stem cell platform enables scalable cultivated meat production

However, although immortalized MSCs retained robust adipogenesis, myogenic differentiation remained inefficient. To overcome this bottleneck, we introduced an inducible MYOD program into WJ-hTERT cells. Upon doxycycline induction and exposure to a reduced myogenic differentiation cocktail, the engineered cells underwent rapid and efficient myogenic differentiation, with extensive multinucleated myotube formation, actin alignment, and induction of canonical myogenic markers.

We further demonstrate that these cells are compatible with long-term 3D spheroid culture, enabling repeated weekly expansion cycles over more than 60 days, and can subsequently be transferred onto edible cellulose scaffolds for lineage-specific differentiation. On scaffolds, the cells supported both adipogenic remodeling and organized myogenic differentiation. In addition, pre-loading scaffolds with myogenic factors reduced the need for repeated growth factor supplementation during maturation, suggesting a route toward lower-cost differentiation workflows.

Together, these results establish proof-of-concept modular bovine MSC-based cultivated meat platform in which controlled immortalization, inducible myogenic programming, suspension-compatible expansion, and scaffold-guided tissue formation are each validated and interoperable at the module level.