Patent ID: 7956038

Claim:
A method of treating a muscular disease or disorder associated with GDF-8, comprising: administering a therapeutically effective dose of a GASP1 protein to a patient in need thereof, thereby treating the muscular disorder, wherein the GASP1 protein comprises the amino acid sequence encoded by a nucleic acid sequence chosen from: i) nucleotides 520-717 of SEQ ID NO:4; ii) nucleotides 328-525 of SEQ ID NO:6; iii) SEQ ID NO:4; iv) SEQ ID NO:6; and v) a nucleotide sequence that is at least 95% identical to (i), (ii), (iii), or (iv) and encodes a polypeptide having GDF-8 binding activity; wherein the disease or disorder is chosen from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frailty, muscle atrophy, paroxymal muscle atrophy, sarcopenia, and cachexia.