Extracellular vesicles (EVs) composed of a lipid bilayer are released from various cell types, including animals, plants, and microorganisms, and serve as important mediators of cell-to-cell communication. EVs can perform a variety of biological functions through the delivery of bioactive molecules, such as nucleic acids, lipids, and proteins, and can also be utilized as carriers for drug delivery. However, the low productivity and high cost of mammalian-derived EVs (MDEVs) are major barriers to their practical clinical application where large-scale production is essential. Recently, there has been growing interest in plant-derived EVs (PDEVs) that can produce large amounts of electricity at a low cost. In particular, PDEVs contain plant-derived bioactive molecules such as antioxidants, which are used as therapeutic agents to treat various diseases. In this review, we discuss the composition and characteristics of PDEVs and the appropriate methods for their isolation. We also discuss the potential use of PDEVs containing various plant-derived antioxidants as replacements for conventional antioxidants.

In regenerative medicine, cell therapies using various stem cells have received attention as an alternative to overcome the limitations of existing therapeutic methods. Clinical applications of stem cells require the identification of characteristics at the single-cell level and continuous monitoring during expansion and differentiation. In this review, we recapitulate the application of various stem cells used in regenerative medicine and the latest technological advances in monitoring the differentiation process of stem cells. Single-cell RNA sequencing capable of profiling the expression of many genes at the single-cell level provides a new opportunity to analyze stem cell heterogeneity and to specify molecular markers related to the branching of differentiation lineages. However, this method is destructive and distorted. In addition, the differentiation process of a particular cell cannot be continuously tracked. Therefore, several spectroscopic methods have been developed to overcome these limitations. In particular, the application of Raman spectroscopy to measure the intrinsic vibration spectrum of molecules has been proposed as a powerful method that enables continuous monitoring of biochemical changes in the process of the differentiation of stem cells. This review provides a comprehensive overview of current analytical methods employed for stem cell engineering and future perspectives of nano-biosensing technologies as a platform for the in situ monitoring of stem cell status and differentiation.

Replicating the fibrous texture of steak-like meat remains a significant hurdle to the commercialization of cultured meat as a sustainable alternative to conventional livestock farming. Many existing scaffolds often lack the biocompatibility, scalability, or structural cues necessary to fabricate steak-like cultured meat. Here, we developed a cost-effective and sustainable scaffold derived from the decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) of the edible mushroom, Pleurotus ferulae. This biomaterial was selected because of its rapid growth, low environmental impact, and inherent fibrous microarchitecture, which exhibits structural similarities to skeletal muscle. An optimized decellularization protocol was established to fabricate porous scaffolds from P. ferulae, and comparative analysis revealed its superior anisotropic microstructure compared to other fungal species. The P. ferulae-derived scaffold supported robust cell adhesion, proliferation, and crucially, guided the aligned differentiation of bovine muscle satellite cells into organized, parallel myotubes that structurally recapitulate native muscle tissue. Texture profile analysis demonstrated that the engineered cultured meat construct exhibited hardness, chewiness, and gumminess comparable to those of real beef, outperforming acellular controls. Furthermore, a thermal processing assay confirmed Maillard reaction-induced browning and the formation of a meat-like macroscopic appearance. Collectively, these results validate P. ferulae dECM scaffolds as a scalable, sustainable, and consumer-acceptable platform for producing steak-like cultured meat with biomimetic textural and sensory properties.