Decoupled Surface Engineering Enables Cell-Interactive Edible Microcarriers across Food-Grade Polysaccharides

PLL/TA surface engineering on alginate microcarriers enables cell adhesion, with 83% of modified microcarriers supporting attached cells versus none on bare alginate.

• Why it matters: Food-grade polysaccharides are useful for edible properties but usually support limited cell adhesion, restricting how cultivated-meat microcarriers can be designed.
• What they did: Preformed polysaccharide microcarriers were modified with a poly-L-lysine/tannic acid interface, and cell attachment and coverage were tracked over time while monitoring culture-medium protein recruitment.
• The result: The PLL/TA interface increased cell-covered area to 63.74% by Day 6 (vs 9.64% on PLL-coated and negligible on bare alginate) and transferred to pectin/carrageenan, raising cell-bearing carrageenan microcarriers from 30% to 100% for Hanwoo bovine and 10% to 100% for Handon porcine cells.

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