Although the 56-kDa protein of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi has been presumed to play
important roles in generating protective immunity against scrub typhus, studies of this protein
have been impeded. We used the recombinant 56-kDa protein of R. tsutsugamushi Boryong
fused with the maltose-binding protein of Escherichia coli (MBP-Bor56) to analyze its ability
to induce protective immunity in a C3H/HeDub murine model. Intraperitoneal immunization
of mice with MBP-Bor56 resulted in an increase in the 50% minimal lethal dose of more than …

The authors used the recombinant 56-kDa protein of R. tsutsugamushi [Orientia
tsutsugamushi] Boryong fused with the maltose-binding protein of Escherichia coli (MBP-
Bor56) to analyse the ability of the 56-kDa protein to induce protective immunity in a
C3H/HeDub murine model. Intraperitoneal immunization of mice with MBP-Bor56 resulted in
an increase in the 50% minimal lethal dose of> 160 times compared with that for the control
mice. Splenic mononuclear cells from the mice immunized with MBP-Bor56 showed a dose …