a, Representative images of angiogenesis in wild-type HUVECs treated with vehicle (dimethyl sulfoxide < 0.1%), TGP-377 (500 nM), LNA-377 (50 nM) and recombinant VEGFA (10 μg ml–1) for 18 h. The number of branch points in each image is shown below the indicated treatment in parentheses. TGP-377 and LNA-377 stimulated angiogenesis to a similar extent as VEGFA-treated cells, whereas no effect was observed for cells treated with a scrambled oligonucleotide control. Data are reported as mean ± s.e.m. (n= 3 biologically independent replicates). b, Similarly, HUVECs stably expressing an anti-VEGF shRNA showed a 50% reduction in branching, with a loss of TGP-377 and LNA-377 efficacy, as expected. Exogenous VEGFA continued to stimulate branching, confirming VEGFA dependence. Data are reported as mean ± s.e.m. (n= 3 biologically independent replicates); *, P<0.05; **, P< 0.01, as determined by a two-sided Student’s t-test.