Bleomycin: action on growth of oncogenic RNA viruses and on cell transformation.

Bleomycin (BLM) inhibits cell proliferation of noninfected chick embryo fibroblasts by blocking their DNA synthesis selectively. Chick embryo fibroblasts have beentransformed by Schmidt-Ruppin D strain of Rous Sarcoma Virus. Transformation has been determined by a focus assay. Foci formation is strongly reduced by BLM. Virus replication is inhibited by BLM in growing and confluent monolayer cells. This result might be explained by the observation that this drug reduces proliferation of growing and of confluent monolayer cells very sensitively. During the first 24 hours after infection the BLM inhibitory effect is more pronounced than in the case of BLM-application during the period 24--48 hours after infection. This result is explained by published results, showing that cell division is required only for the intitiation of transcription of virus RNA but not for its maintenance. BLM has only little effect on virus growth in transformed cells, because in these cells initiation of transcription of virus RNA has already taken place before the drug was added. From the data obtained it is concluded, that BLM inhibits growth of Rous Sarcoma Virus by blocking cell proliferation.