Parvoviruses are known to interfere with cellular transformation and carcinogenesis. Since infecting adeno-associated virus (AAV) frequently integrates its DNA into the cellular genome, we analyzed whether this integration influences the transformed phenotype of the human tumor cell line HeLa. Analysis of three independent HeLa cell clones with integrated AAV DNA (HA-3x, HA-16, and HA-28) revealed the following phenotypic changes of these cells: (i) reduced growth rate, (ii) increased serum requirement, (iii) reduced capacity for colony formation in soft agar, (iv) reduced cloning efficiency on plastic, (v) elevated sensitivity to genotoxic agents (N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene, human tumor necrosis factor alpha, UV irradiation [256 nm], and heat [42 degrees C]), and (vi) reduced sensitivity to the cytolytic effect of parvovirus H-1. Reduced growth rate and enhanced sensitivity to gamma irradiation were also observed in vivo when tumors from AAV DNA-containing HeLa cells were transplanted into nude mice. This alteration of the biological properties of HeLa cells was independent of the number of AAV genomes integrated, the physical structure of integrated AAV DNA, and the transcription of AAV genes. Integration of AAV DNA was found to occur preferentially on the long arm of chromosome 17 in the three HeLa cell clones analyzed. These findings demonstrate that genomic integration of AAV DNA can alter the biological properties of human tumor cells.