Cyclins control the activities of cyclin-dependent protein kinases (cdks) and hence play a key role in cell cycle regulation. While B-type cyclins associate with p34cdc2 to trigger entry into mitosis, progression through S phase requires cyclin A, presumably in association with p33cdk2. Vertebrate A- and B-type cyclins display strikingly distinct subcellular localizations, but the mechanisms underlying these differential distributions are unknown. Here, we have begun to study the requirements for nuclear localization of cyclin A. We have isolated a cDNA coding for chicken cyclin A and constructed a series of deletion mutants. These were then transfected into HeLa cells, and the subcellular distribution of the mutant cyclin A proteins was determined by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy. In parallel, the cyclin A mutants were assayed for their ability to form complexes with cdk subunits. We found that deletion of more than 100 residues from the N terminus of cyclin A did not impair nuclear localization or cdk subunit binding and kinase activation. In contrast, removal of as few as 15 residues from the C terminus, or deletion of part of the internal cyclin box domain, abolished nuclear localization of cyclin A as well as its ability to bind to and activate cdk subunits. These results suggest that nuclear transport of cyclin A may depend on the formation of multiprotein complexes comprising cdk catalytic subunits.