SOD1 and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Genetic studies in a transgenic mouse and rat model of ALS with mutated superoxide dismutase 1 SOD1G93A have indicated that inhibition of hypoxia response element (HRE) in the VEGF gene promoter may promote motor neuron degeneration (since HRE is responsible for inducing angiogenesis through VEGF as shown in Figure 1) whereas administration of VEGF prolongs survival [6].