Human cervical cancers frequently contain retinoblastoma protein (Rb) that is inactivated by binding with human papilloma virus (HPV) E7 protein or through mutation. The CDKN2 gene encodes p16INK4 which inhibits cdk4-cyclin D phosphorylation of Rb, preventing the G1-S transition. To determine whether abnormalities of CDKN2 occur in cervical-cancer cells, II cervical cell lines, including 8 HPV-positive cell lines, 2 HPV-negative cell lines containing mutant Rb, and one tumorigenic cell line derived from normal cervical cells following transfection with HPV-16 and v-H-ras (CX16-2HR), were analyzed. No cell line had a homozygous deletion of exon 1 or 2 of CDKN2, and only one cell line, CX16-2HR, had an altered DNA sequence, which represents a common polymorphism at codon 148. To exclude the possibility of other subtle inactivating mutations, immunoblot analysis of protein lysates was performed using a polyclonal anti-p16INK4 rabbit anti-serum. Abundant levels of normal-sized p16INK4 were observed in all cell samples. Thus, no alterations of CDKN2 were detected in these cervical cell lines. These results confirm that mutational inactivation of p16INK4 is a rare event in tumor samples with compromised Rb activity.