ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BONE TISSUE BANK AT MOSTAR UNIVERSITY CLINICAL HOSPITAL.

Bone tissue banks are necessary for collection, production, testing, packaging, storage and delivery of bone transplants. Bone tissue bank is a link between the donor and the recipient by which the donation becomes a medium of health improvement for both the donor and the recipient. At the Department of Orthopedics, Mostar University Clinical Hospital, about 200 total hip replacements are performed per year. Most patients undergoing total hip replacement surgery (90%) have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis, and they are suitable donors, having in mind their age and comorbidities. In the same Department, around 50 procedures that require bone transplants are performed per year. A team of highly competent surgeons are working on an intensive process of adaptation oriented to quality improvement and intensification of the activity, both with the goal of meeting the standards of excellence in orthopedic surgery. The presence of a bone tissue bank has a favorable impact on the quality of health care owing to bone transplant availability, as well as on the scientific role of a highly specialized institution that examines the properties of bone tissue.

Protein kinase B/AKT isoform 2 drives migration of human mesenchymal stem cells.

This study was designed to investigate the migratory behavior of adult human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and the underlying mechanism. Cell migration was assessed by transwell, wound healing and time-lapse in vivo motility assays. Pharmacological inhibitors were used to determine the potential mechanism responsible for cell migration and invasion. The tests that were implemented revealed that MSC were fairly migratory. Protein kinase B (AKT) was strongly activated at the basal level. Through our analyses we demonstrated that pharmacological inactivation of AKT2 but not AKT1 significantly decreased cell migration and invasion. Although preliminary, collectively our results indicate that AKT2 activation plays a critical role in enabling MSC migration.