IGF2 and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Thus, it is likely that up-regulation of IGF2 may be involved in neuroprotection of motor neurons (Leventhal et al., 1999; Silva et al., 2009), in line to its previously suggested role in non-autonomous glial ALS mechanisms (Kihira et al., 2007; Dagvajantsan et al., 2008).