The role of two receptors, previously proposed to mediate the entry of adenoviruses into human cells, the coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR) and the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I heavy chain has been investigated. The expression of MHC class I in many tumours is reduced or absent, therefore if this were a means by which adenoviruses gained entry into cells, it would have important implications for their application in cancer treatment. In order to determine if MHC class I heavy chain is involved in adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) uptake, the binding of recombinant Ad5 fibre knob domain (which mediates viral attachment) to human cell lines that had greatly different levels of surface MHC class I was studied. We also created derivatives of a non-permissive Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line that expressed human class I (HLA-A2) and found that these cells did not bind fibre or take up virus. In addition, the extracellular domain of CAR was expressed in E. coli and used to generate a polyclonal anti-CAR antibody. This antibody blocked both 125I labelled fibre knob binding and virus uptake. Thus CAR, and not MHC class I, is a receptor for human adenoviruses in cultured tumour cells. Tissue CAR levels may therefore be an important factor in the efficiency of adenovirus-mediated gene therapy.