Regional changes in the mRNA accumulations for cytoskeletal proteins alpha-tubulin and beta-actin were examined by in situ hybridization and Northern blot analysis in spontaneously hypertensive rat brains at chronic stages after 3 hours of transient ischemia. alpha-Tubulin mRNA accumulations showed no significant change at 2 weeks after transient ischemia except for a significant decrease in the frontal cortex (9.7%, p < 0.01) coinciding with ischemia induced histological changes. beta-Actin mRNA level was significantly increased in the parietal cortex (8.5%), septum (10.0%), amygdala (11.0%), CA4 area (5.8%) and the dentate gyrus (7.5%) of the hippocampus at 2 weeks after recirculation compared with a sham-operated control group (p < 0.01). The ischemic areas of hippocampal and frontocortical lesions receive afferent neurons from those regions where beta-actin mRNA was increased, suggesting that ischemia-induced increases in beta-actin mRNA may reflect actin synthesis in these neurons to compensate for lost synaptic connections. Two cytoskeletal mRNA concentrations reacted differently to cerebral ischemia, and did not parallel histological signs of ischemia either temporally or spatially.