Provided herein are methods of treating central nervous system injury (e.g., spinal cord injury) using GGF2 and compositions comprising GGF2. For example, provided is a method of treating spinal cord injury in a subject, comprising administering at least one dosage of less than 1 mg/kg of GGF2 to the subject. Also provided are methods of promoting proliferation of neural stem cells and of promoting revascularization comprising using GGF2 and compositions comprising GGF2.