Patent ID: 7674455

Claim:
A method of treating a mammal having amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, said method comprising: transducing a motor neuron of said mammal with an insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-1) gene or a glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) gene; wherein the motor neuron comprises a synaptic region and a cellular portion; and wherein transducing the motor neuron of said mammal comprises injecting a muscle that participates in respiration in said mammal with at least 1.5×10 7 infectious particles of an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector comprising said IGF-1 gene or said GDNF gene; wherein said muscle is innervated by said motor neuron comprising a synaptic region and a cellular portion; and wherein said AAV vector enters the synaptic region of said motor neuron, is retrogradely moved to the cell body of said motor neuron, and expresses said IGF-1 gene or said GDNF gene; thereby treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the mammal.