Imeglimin modulates cholesterol biosynthesis and AMPK–ACC signaling in serum-stimulated rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RNA-seq)

To explore transcriptomic changes associated with imeglimin exposure under mitogenic stimulation, rat aortic smooth muscle cells (RASMCs) were treated with imeglimin (2.5 mM) or vehicle from the time of seeding, serum-starved (0.2% FBS) for 48 h, and then switched to 10% FBS growth medium for 24 h while maintaining the same treatment.

Total RNA was extracted and subjected to stranded mRNA sequencing. Sequencing was performed on an Illumina NovaSeq X Plus platform (paired-end 150 bp; ~6 Gb per sample). Reads were quality-checked, trimmed, aligned to the rat rn6 reference genome, and quantified at the gene level.