Patent ID: 7811983

Claim:
A method of reducing tumor burden, the method comprising: (a) introducing a mutant human LIGHT (homologous to lymphotoxin, exhibits inducible expression, and competes with HSV glycoprotein D for herpes virus entry mediator, a receptor expressed by T lymphocytes) protein or a fragment comprising an extracellular domain of native LIGIIT into a tumor site, wherein the mutant LIGHT protein or the LIGHT fragment is resistant to protease digestion and is stably present on the tumor cell surface, wherein the mutant LIGHT has an amino acid change in a proteolytic site comprising an amino acid sequence EQLI (SEQ ID NO: 17) from positions 81-84 of native LIGHT protein, or does not have the proteolytic site; and (b) reducing tumor burden by stimulating activation of tumor-specific T-cells against the tumor by the stable presence of protease resistant mutant LIGHT.