HUVECs were transfected with either of two small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting rictor (siRict1 and siRict2) or a non-silencing siRNA (siNS) control. A) Representative Western blot of the effect of rictor knockdown on rictor, and phospho-Akt. B) Quantitation of rictor and phospho-Akt (n = 3 independent experiments, *P<0.05 by ANOVA). C) The effect of rictor knockdown on angiogenic sprouting in vitro. HUVEC were transfected with siRict1, siRict2, or siNS, then mounted on Cytodex beads, embedded in a fibrin gel, and stimulated with 50 ng/ml VEGF as in Fig 3. Representative images of EC sprouts after 18 hours incubation. D) Quantitation of the number of sprouts per bead. E) Quantitation of the length of the sprouts (n = 3 independent experiments, *P<0.05 by ANOVA, scale bar = 95 um).