Discovery of Novel Stimulators of Pax7 and/or MyoD: Enhancing the Efficacy of Cultured Meat Production through Culture Media Enrichment

The principles of myogenesis play crucial roles in the production of cultured meat, and identifying protein stimulators associated with myogenesis holds great potential to enhance the efficiency of this process. In this study, we used surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based screening of a natural product library to discover ligands for Pax7 and MyoD, key regulators of satellite cells (SCs), and performed cell-based assays on Hanwoo SCs (HWSCs) to identify substances that promote cell proliferation and/or differentiation. Through an SPR analysis, we found that six chemicals, including one Pax7+/MyoD− chemical, four Pax7+/MyoD+ chemicals, and one Pax7−/MyoD+ chemical, bound to Pax7 and/or MyoD proteins. Among four Pax7+/MyoD+ chemicals, parthenolide (0.5 and 1 µM) and rutin (100 and 200 µM) stimulated cell proliferation in the medium with 10% FBS similar to the medium with 20% FBS, without affecting differentiation. Adenosine, a Pax7−/MyoD+ chemical, accelerated differentiation. These chemicals could be potential additives to reduce the reliance of FBS required for HWSC proliferation and differentiation in cultured meat production.