[1S06m] 15. Advanced Cell and Cell Culture Engineering for Biopharmaceuticals and Functional Food - Part 1

11:10 AM - 11:30 AM JST(2:10 AM - 2:30 AM UTC)

[1ACCE-04] Bioprocess Integration of Antimicrobial Peptides for Contamination Control in Cultivated Meat Production

○Yu-Chien Lin^1,2, Idan Yakir^1,2,3, Zvi Hayouka^2,3, Nam-Joon Cho^1,2,4 (1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), 2. Singapore-HUJ Alliance for Research and Enterprise, Singapore HUJ Alliance Research Enterprise (SHARE) (Singapore), 3. Institute of Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition, Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel), 4. Centre for Cross Economy Global, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore))

Keywords:

Cultivated Meat,Antimicrobial Peptide,Bioprocess Engineering,Contamination Control,Cell Culture Systems

Microbial contamination remains a critical bottleneck in the scalable production of cultivated meat, particularly in antibiotic-free culture systems required for food safety and regulatory compliance. In this study, we investigate the integration of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as an alternative strategy for contamination control in mammalian cell culture environments. Using a C2C12-based myogenic differentiation model, we systematically evaluated the antibacterial efficacy of AMPs against representative Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (e.g., Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes) under both proliferation and differentiation conditions. While AMPs demonstrated effective antibacterial activity during early culture stages, their efficacy decreased during later stages of differentiation, likely due to reduced bioavailability associated with interactions with cell-secreted extracellular matrices and differentiated myotubes, highlighting a stage-dependent limitation in dynamic cell culture systems. To address this limitation, we propose a bioprocess integration strategy incorporating temporal dosing and stage-specific optimization of AMP application. By aligning antimicrobial intervention with cell culture dynamics, this approach enables effective contamination control while preserving cell viability and differentiation potential. This work highlights the importance of peptide–cell–matrix interactions in complex co-culture systems and provides a scalable framework for antibiotic-free contamination management in cultivated meat production.