The process of wound repair was investigated using primary cultured rabbit gastric mucosal cells. A confluent monolayer gastric mucosal cell sheet consisting mainly of mucous cells was wounded to make a cell-free area of constant size. The changes in the cell-free area were analyzed quantitatively by image analysis. The wound recovered in 36-48 h in controls; wound repair was accelerated by the addition of fetal calf serum (FCS) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) to the medium and was retarded by inhibitors of cytoskeletal proteins. In the process of normal wound repair, 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-positive cells appeared around the wound in 24-36 h but disappeared after complete repair. In the FCS- and HGF-treated group, BrdU-positive cells were mainly detected 12-24 h after wounding. In this model the wound was repaired in two steps: an initial cell migration stage and a later proliferation stage. In conclusion, FCS and some growth factors accelerate wound repair with the induction of both epithelial cell migration and proliferation. The cytoskeletal system plays an important role in normal gastric restoration.