Effect of ribavirin on Rous sarcoma virus transformation.

Ribavirin inhibited the expression of cellular transformation in normal rat kidney cells transformed by a temperature-sensitive mutant of rous sarcoma virus and chicken embryo fibroblasts infected with either a temperature-sensitive mutant or wild-type Rous sarcoma virus. Ribavirin also inhibited replication of the Rous sarcoma viruses in chicken embryo fibroblasts. The effect of ribavirin on cellular transformation was not permanent, as removal of the drug resulted in reversion to the transformed phenotype. The concentration of ribavirin necessary to inhibit the expression of cellular transformation was cytostatic for the cell lines used in this study.