FIG. 5.

Inhibition of MV transcription and RANTES induction by ribavirin. (A) U373 cells (5 × 10⁶/75-cm² flask) were infected with MV at an MOI of 2.5 for 2 h. Twenty milliliters of medium containing varying doses of ribavirin was added to yield the indicated final concentration. Cells were further incubated for 24 h, and then RANTES and MV nucleocapsid mRNA levels were examined by Northern blotting (20 μg of total RNA/lane). G3PDH was used for normalization. Results are representative of findings from two separate experiments. The background density of the nucleocapsid blot (an MOI of 0 for MV) was not subtracted. (B) Effect of ribavirin on RANTES induction by LPS. U373 cells as above (panel A) were stimulated with LPS at 1 μg/ml for 48 h, with or without ribavirin at 1,000 μg/ml. Supernatants were examined for RANTES expression by ELISA. Results are means ± SE from two separate experiments, performed in duplicate. The level of RANTES produced by LPS in the absence of ribavirin was taken as 100% induction.