The 90-kDa cellular protein encoded by the mouse mdm-2 oncogene binds to the p53 protein in vivo and inhibits its transactivation function (J. Momand, GP Zambetti, DC Olson, D. George, and AJ Levine, Cell 69: 1237-1245, 1992). cDNA clones encoding the human homolog of the mdm-2 protein (also called hdm-2) were isolated from a HeLa cell cDNA library. A series of monoclonal antibodies have been generated against human mdm-2 protein, and the epitopes recognized by these antibodies have been mapped. By construction of a series of deletion mutants, the region of the mdm-2 protein that is critical for complex formation with the p53 protein has been mapped to the N-terminal portion of the human mdm-2 protein. Interestingly, a monoclonal antibody with an epitope located in this same region failed to immunoprecipitate the mdm-2-p53 complex and appeared to recognize only free mdm-2 protein. The domain of the p53 protein that is sufficient for interaction with human mdm-2 protein has been mapped to the N-terminal 52 amino acid residues of the p53 protein. This region contains the transactivation domain of p53, suggesting that mdm-2 may inhibit p53 function by disrupting its interaction with the general transcription machinery.