Confocal microscopy reveals a specific array of actin filaments in the surface cells of developing chick joints

The BCTS autumn meeting was held at the Royal Veterinary College in London, and had as its theme the role of growth factors in connective tissue integrity. The early planning was carried out by Drs Jim Bee and Eleanor Mackie; the meeting was, however, held in the shadow of the illness and death of Jim Bee in the months leading up to the meeting. About 110 registered participants attended the meeting, which was addressed by a number of eminent invited speakers from within the UK and abroad. The meeting was supported by several generous donations, particularly from the Arthritis and Rheumatism Council and the Wellcome Trust. Additional donations were received from Sigma Biosciences, Roche, Zeneca, Knoll Pharmaceuticals, Naturin Ltd, Olympus, Vector Laboratories and Cambio. The purpose of the meeting was to provide a forum for the discussion of the role of growth factors in connective tissue biology. The meeting was divided into an introductory session and sessions on growth factors in connective tissue development, maintenance and pathology. The aim of the introductory session was to provide conference attendees working in the connective tissue field with a background knowledge of the major growth factor families known to be relevant to connective tissue biology. In addition to the talks given by invited speakers, four short talks were given by speakers selected from the submitted abstracts. The poster sessions provided another important forum for presentation of new data and discussion.