Transcriptomic analysis of o-TA cytotoxicity on human HaCaT keratinocytes
This study evaluates the cytotoxicity and safety profile of o-toluic acid (o-TA) on human immortalized keratinocyte HaCaT cells through transcriptomic analysis. HaCaT cells were cultured in high-glucose DMEM supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 1% penicillin-streptomycin at 37 degrees C in a 5% CO2 atmosphere. Upon reaching over 80% confluence, cells were treated with 1 mg/mL o-TA for 24 h. An ethanol solvent control group was included. Three biological replicates were prepared for each group. Total RNA was extracted and transcriptomic analysis was performed by RNA-seq, including RNA extraction, library construction, cDNA sequencing on the Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform. Differential expression analysis was performed using DESeq2. Genes were annotated against the NCBI taxonomy, NR, GO and KEGG databases.