Although Aster glehni has been reported to prevent diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, insomnia, and cardiovascular disease, the anti-inflammatory effect of Aster glehni in colonic tissue remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects and the underlying molecular mechanism of an ethanol extract of Aster glehni (AG) in mice with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis. AG significantly attenuated DSS-induced DAI scores, which implied that it suppressed diarrhea, gross bleeding, and the infiltration of immune cells. AG administration also effectively prevented shortening of the colon length and enlargement of the spleen size. Histological examinations indicated that AG suppressed colonic damage and the thickness of the muscle layer induced by DSS. In addition, AG inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, and the protein expression of COX-2 and iNOS in mice with DSS-induced colitis. Administration with AG suppressed the activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) including the nuclear translocation of the p65 NF-κB subunit, phosphorylation and degradation of IκB-α. Taken together, these findings suggest that the anti-inflammatory effects of AG are mainly related to the inhibition of the expressions of inflammatory mediators via NF-κB inactivation, and support its possible therapeutic application in colitis.

Clinical and preclinical trials of involving drugs with anti-obesity effects have focused on screening for herbal medicines suspected to have anti-obesity activities. In this study, an extract of Aster scaver Thunb., which was prepared in 80% methanol (ASE), was assessed for its total phenol content, total flavonoid content, antioxidant activity ability to scavenge the α-α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl, 2,2'-azino-bis-[3-ethylbenzthiazoline]-6-sulfonic acid radical, and anti-adipogenic effects. The anti-adipogenic effect of ASE on the differentiation of 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes to adipocytes was investigated by assaying the suppression of adipocyte differentiation and lipid accumulation by using western blot analysis and the Oil RedO assay, respectively. The staining results showed that ASE significantly inhibited 3T3-L1. Western blot analysis results showed that ASE decreased the levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein α, and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c. These results demonstrate that ASE directly inhibits the differentiation of preadipocytes, and might be an important adjunct in the therapeutic efforts to reduce adipogenesis.

Recently, there has been a growing interest in the controlled alignment and robust bonding process of nanowires (NWs) on nanoelectronic devices. In this paper, we developed an innovative process for the fabrication of NW-based devices by room-temperature and low-pressure compressive transfer printing of NWs, in which NWs could be simultaneously aligned and bonded onto the metal electrodes. In this process, chemically synthesized NWs were first transferred and aligned on an intermediate substrate by contact printing and then finally printed onto a target substrate with mechanically soft Au electrodes, which enables the embedding of aligned NWs under low-pressure (5 bar) and room-temperature condition. The resulting contact between NW and Au electrodes exhibits Schottky behavior and high mechanical bonding strength (>567 MPa). The electrical characteristics could be converted from Schottky to Ohmic contact through thermal annealing treatment at 250 °C for 5 min due to Cr diffusion and direct Cr-ZnO contact formation. The applications of the fabricated devices as ultraviolet (UV) and gas sensors were successfully demonstrated. Furthermore, NW-based electronic devices were fabricated on a flexible substrate by using this process and showed mechanical and electrical robustness under mechanical bending conditions.