Composition for inducing direct transdifferentiation from muscle cells to adipocytes containing hardy kiwi ethanol extract as an active ingredient

Cultured meat and premium meat material that converts myoblasts into adipocytes using ethanol extract of hardy kiwi fruit

This technology uses EEAA, an ethanol extract of dried hardy kiwi fruit (Actinidia arguta), as an active ingredient to induce muscle cells to convert directly into adipocytes or adipocyte-like cells instead of developing into myotubes. When applied to C2C12 myoblasts, it was confirmed that myotube formation decreased while lipid accumulation, stained red with Oil Red O, increased.

Muscle and fat cells originate from the same embryonic stem cells and are capable of transdifferentiation, but research on natural materials to regulate this process has been limited. Furthermore, while the anti-cancer and antioxidant effects of hardy kiwi are known, its ability to regulate transdifferentiation had not been reported. In particular, lab-grown meat lacks intramuscular fat, failing to replicate the flavor and tenderness of real meat, and currently requires the artificial addition of fat after muscle growth.

This technology shifts the differentiation of myoblasts toward fat by lowering the expression of MyoD, a key marker for muscle differentiation, and increasing the expression of adipogenic markers such as C/EBP-β, C/EBP-α, and PPAR-γ, all while operating at non-cytotoxic concentrations. It can be applied to produce cultured meat with naturally occurring intramuscular fat, as a feed additive to improve marbling in Hanwoo beef, and as a cell model for studying ectopic fat in muscle. This allows for the creation of high-value artificial meat with flavor and texture closer to real meat by generating fat tissue directly during the culture phase.

‍

‍

Key Features:

• A composition for inducing direct transdifferentiation from muscle cells to adipocytes containing hardy kiwi ethanol extract as an active ingredient
• Hardy kiwi ethanol extract that blocks the muscle differentiation pathway by inhibiting the differentiation of muscle cells into myotubes
• An active ingredient that reduces mRNA expression of the myogenesis marker MyoD and increases mRNA expression of the adipogenesis markers C/EBP-β, C/EBP-α, and PPAR-γ
• A composition for inducing direct transdifferentiation using C2C12 myoblasts as the target muscle cells

‍

This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Education for the development of traditional Korean medicine treatment technologies and mechanism research regarding photoaging.

‍