A dramatic and specific induction of c-fos mRNA was observed in human skin fibroblasts in vitro culture by oxygen reperfusion after oxygen deficiency treatment. C-fos mRNA reached a maximum about 30-60 min after oxygen reperfusion and declined to basal level after 120 min. And this phenomenon was duration of oxygen deficiency-dependent, and remarkably observed for 0.5-2 hr of oxygen deficiency. More long duration of oxygen deficiency induced a decreasing tendency of c-fos mRNA overexpression due to essential and irreversible cellular damage. Thus increased c-fos gene expression might be an early event in cellular recovery process in particularly human skin fibroblasts with oxygen deficiency.