Loss of normal functions and gain of oncogenic functions when the p53 tumor suppressor gene is mutated are considered critical events in the development of the majority of human cancers. Human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) provide an in vitro model system to study growth, differentiation, and neoplastic transformation of progenitor cells of lung carcinoma. When wild-type (WT) or mutant (MT; codon 143Val-Ala) human p53 cDNA was transfected into nontumorigenic BEAS-2B cells, we observed that (i) transfected WT p53 suppresses and MT p53 enhances the colony-forming efficiency of these cells, (ii) MT p53 increases resistance to transforming growth factor beta 1, and (iii) clones of MT p53 transfected BEAS-2B cells are tumorigenic when inoculated into athymic nude mice. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that certain mutations in p53 may function in multistage lung carcinogenesis by reducing the responsiveness of bronchial epithelial cells to negative growth factors.