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Science

Cultivated meat, produced by growing cells in specialized tanks, provides a sustainable alternative to conventional livestock farming. However, a significant hurdle faced is the high cost associated with growth factors which are required for cell growth in serum-free media. To address this, one approach is to reduce purification expenses by using microorganisms that can naturally secrete these growth factors. In this study, we explore the production of Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 (FGF2), a critical regulator of cell proliferation, using Lactococcus lactis, a Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) microorganism noted for its ability to secrete recombinant proteins.

Societal Impact

This study highlights the potential use of L. lactis secretion as an endotoxin-free alternative to E. coli for production of growth factors for use in cultivated meat production. By incorporating our pro-peptide design and optimized expression strategy, recombinant growth factors can be efficiently secreted into the culture medium. This streamlines the production process and creates opportunities to reduce manufacturing costs in cultivated meat.

Technical Summary

We have engineered a recombinant Lactococcus lactis strain to enhance secretion by incorporating USP45 signal peptide and secretion pro-peptide (PP1) into the design of recombinant FGF2. Coupled with an optimized expression strategy, this system enabled efficient production of secreted, bioactive FGF2. Our results demonstrate that the L. lactis expression system successfully produced biologically active FGF2, which stimulated the proliferation of Anguilla japonica pre-adipocytic cells. Even with simple affinity purification and buffer exchange, the specific activity of the recombinant FGF2 was comparable to that of commercial FGF2.

References

Ho et al. (2025) Functional expression and secretion of basic fibroblast growth factor in Lactococcus latis [Original Research]. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Volume 13- 2025