HGF and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: HGF application was also reported to promote the survival of several types of neurons in the brain after cerebral ischemia [22,23,24,27,42] and of motor neurons in the spinal cord in transgenic ALS model mice and rats, by attenuating the levels of caspase-1 and inducible nitric oxide synthase in motor neurons, as well as by maintaining the level of the glial-specific glutamate transporter in reactive astrocytes [28,29].