A simian virus 40 (SV40) T-antigen mutant containing only the N-terminal 136 amino acids, able to bind to Rb and p300 but not p53, partially inhibited p53-mediated transcription without affecting the ability of p53 to bind DNA. These results suggest that SV40 T antigen can regulate p53-mediated transcription either directly through protein-protein association or indirectly through interaction with factors which may function to confer p53-mediated transcription.