Methods for enhancing functional recovery following central nervous system ischemia or trauma

Abstract

The present invention provides methods and compositions for treatment of mammals afflicted with an ischemic or traumatic injury of the central nervous system. The present invention capitalizes in part upon the discovery that administration of a morphogen to such a mammal provides significant improvement in central nervous system function, even when administered after central nervous system tissue has been damaged. The methods involve the administration of dimeric proteins defined as morphogens, inducers of these morphogens, or agonists of the corresponding morphogen receptors, or implantation of cells stimulated by exposure to the morphogens. The proteins defined as morphogens comprise a structurally and functionally distinct family within the TGF-β superfamily. Osteogenic protein-1 (OP-1) is considered to be an exemplary and preferred member of this morphogen family.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for enhancing recovery of central nervous system function in a mammal, comprising the step of: 
 administering an effective amount of a morphogen to a mammal afflicted with a central nervous system injury selected from ischemia or trauma,    wherein said morphogen comprises a dimeric protein having the property of inducing tissue-specific morphogenesis in said mammal and comprising a pair of folded polypeptides, each having an amino acid sequence having at least 70% homology with the C-terminal seven-cysteine domain of human OP-1, residues 38-139 of SEQ ID NO: 5.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said functional recovery comprises an improvement in a central nervous system function selected from motor coordination function, sensory perception, and speech.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said motor coordination function is selected from posture, balance, grasp and gait.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said sensory perception is selected from vision, hearing, touch, taste, proprioception, and olfaction.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said mammal is a human.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the effective amount of a morphogen is provided in a single administration.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the effective amount of a morphogen is provided in a plurality of administrations.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the effective amount of a morphogen is provided in two administrations.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 ,  6 ,  7  or  8  wherein the effective amount of a morphogen is administered at least 6 hours after the onset of said injury.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 ,  6 ,  7  or  8  wherein the effective amount of a morphogen is administered at least 24 hours after the onset of said injury.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 ,  6 ,  7  or  8  wherein the effective amount of a morphogen is administered at least 48 hours after the onset of said injury.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the morphogen is administered daily.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the morphogen is provided biweekly.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the morphogen is provided weekly.  
     
     
         15 . A method for enhancing recovery of central nervous system function in a mammal, comprising the step of: 
 administering an effective amount of a morphogen to a mammal afflicted with a central nervous system injury selected from ischemia or trauma,    wherein said morphogen comprises a dimeric protein having the property of inducing tissue-specific morphogenesis in said mammal and comprising a pair of folded polypeptides, each having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: 
 (a) Generic Sequence 7 defined by SEQ ID NO: 1;  
 (b) Generic Sequence 8 defined by SEQ ID NO: 2;  
 (c) Generic Sequence 9 defined by SEQ ID NO: 6; and  
 (d) Generic Sequence 10 defined by SEQ ID NO: 7;  
   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1  or  15 , wherein said amino acid sequence is selected from the group consisting of: 
 (a) a sequence having greater than 60% amino acid sequence identity with the C-terminal seven-cysteine domain of human OP-1, residues 38-139 of SEQ ID NO: 5; and  
 (b) OPX sequence defined by SEQ. ID NO: 3.  
 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1  or  15 , wherein said wherein said amino acid sequence is that of the C-terminal seven-cysteine domain of human OP-1, residues 38-139 of SEQ ID NO: 5 or a conservative substitution variant thereof.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1  or  15 , wherein said wherein said amino acid sequence is that of the C-terminal seven-cysteine domain of human OP-1, residues 38-139 of SEQ ID NO: 5 or a naturally-occurring variant thereof.  
     
     
         19 . A method for enhancing recovery of central nervous system function in a mammal, comprising the step of: 
 administering an effective amount of a morphogen to a mammal afflicted with a central nervous system injury selected from ischemia or trauma,    wherein said morphogen is selected from the group consisting of human OP-1, mouse OP-1, human OP-2, mouse OP-2, 60A, GDF-1, BMP-2A, BMP-2B, DPP, Vgl, Vgr-1, BMP-3, BMP-5, and BMP-6.    
     
     
         20 . A method for enhancing recovery of central nervous system function in a mammal, comprising the step of: 
 administering an effective amount of a morphogen to a mammal afflicted with a central nervous system injury selected from ischemia or trauma,    wherein said morphogen is a conservative substitution variant of a morphogen selected from the group consisting of human OP-1, mouse OP-1, human OP-2, mouse OP-2, 60A, GDF-1, BMP-2A, BMP-2B, DPP, Vgl, Vgr-1, BMP-3, BMP-5, and BMP-6.    
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  15 ,  19  or  20  wherein said morphogen is complexed with at least one pro-domain peptide comprising an N-terminal 18 amino acid peptide selected from the group consisting of N-termini of the pro domains of OP-1, OP-2, 60A, GDF-1, BMP-2A, BMP-2B, DPP, Vgl, Vgr-1, BMP-3, BMP-5, and BMP-6.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  15 ,  19  or  20  wherein said morphogen is complexed with at least one pro-domain polypeptide that is a conservative substitution variant of a pro-domain polypeptide selected from the group consisting of the pro-domains of OP-1, OP-2, 60A, GDF-1, BMP-2A, BMP-2B, DPP, Vgl, Vgr-1, BMP-3, BMP-5, and BMP-6.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 1 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  15 ,  19  or  20  wherein said morphogen is noncovalently complexed with at least one solubility-enhancing fragment of a pro-domain polypeptide selected from the pro-domains of naturally-occurring morphogens.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein said morphogen is complexed with a pair of said fragments.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 1 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  15 ,  19  or  20  wherein said morphogen is obtained from culture supernatant of a morphogen secreting host cell.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 1 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  15 ,  19  or  20  wherein said morphogen is administered intracisternally, intraventricularly, intrathecally or intravenously.