Potentially food-compatible cellulose acetate scaffolds functionalized with galactomannan and L-alanine: Effects on collagen production and early myogenic responses-A preliminary study.

The development of cultured meat scaffolds requires a careful balance between mechanical properties and biological functionality to support muscle tissue formation. In this study, electrospun cellulose acetate (CA) scaffolds functionalized with galactomannan (CA/GM), L-alanine (CA/Ala), and their combination (CA/GM/Ala) were developed and evaluated for their physicochemical properties and biological effects on fibroblasts and myoblasts. Functionalization preserved the fibrous architecture while increasing fiber diameter, improving hydrophilicity, and enhancing scaffold stiffness to a Young's modulus comparable to that of native skeletal muscle. FTIR, TGA, and release studies further confirmed the successful incorporation of both bioactive components. Although the functionalized scaffolds exhibited slightly lower initial cell adhesion than pristine CA, scaffold composition differentially modulated early cellular responses. The CA/GM/Ala scaffold upregulated the early myogenic markers Myf5 and MyoD, together with COL1A1 expression, suggesting modulation of early myogenic and extracellular matrix-related transcriptional responses. These findings demonstrate that scaffold composition influences early cell responses through combined biochemical and mechanical cues and provide a basis for further optimization of scaffold design for skeletal muscle engineering and cultured meat applications.