USE OF OSTEOPONTIN FOR THE TREATMENT AND/OR PREVENTION OF NEUROLOGIC DISEASES

1 . A method of treating or inhibiting a neurologic disease, comprising administering to a patient in need thereof an effective amount of a nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of:

a) a polypeptide comprising SEQ ID NO: 1;

b) a polypeptide comprising amino acids 1 to 168 or 170 of SEQ ID NO: 1;

c) a polypeptide comprising amino acids 1 to 16 and 170 to 314 of SEQ ID NO: 1;

d) a polypeptide comprising amino acids 170 to 314 of SEQ ID NO: 1;

e) a polypeptide comprising SEQ ID NO: 2;

f) a polypeptide comprising SEQ ID NO: 3

g) a mutein of any of (a) to (f), wherein the amino acid sequence has at least 40% or 50% or 60% or 70% or 80% or 90% identity to at least one of the sequences in (a) to (f);

h) a mutein of any of (a) to (f) which is encoded by a DNA sequence which hybridizes to the complement of the native DNA sequence encoding any of (a) to (f) under moderately stringent conditions or under highly stringent conditions;

i) a mutein of any of (a) to (f) wherein any changes in the amino acid sequence are conservative amino acid substitutions to the amino acid sequences in (a) to (f); and

j) an isoform, fused protein, functional derivative or active fraction of any of (a) to (f).

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid molecule further comprises an expression vector sequence.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said administering step comprises administering to a patient in need thereof a vector for inducing and/or enhancing the endogenous production of osteopontin, or an agonist of osteopontin activity, in a cell.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said administering step comprises administering to a patient in need thereof a cell that has been genetically modified to produce osteopontin, or an agonist of osteopontin activity.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the neurologic disease is chemotherapy-induced neuropathy.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the nucleic acid molecule further comprises an expression vector sequence.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein said administering step comprises administering to a patient in need thereof a vector for inducing and/or enhancing the endogenous production of osteopontin, or an agonist of osteopontin activity, in a cell.

8 . The method of claim 5 , wherein said administering step comprises administering to a patient in need thereof a cell that has been genetically modified to produce osteopontin, or an agonist of osteopontin activity.