We have studied the effects of excitatory amino acids on the expression of the c-fos and c-jun mRNA in rat C6 glioma cells. The glutamate, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), and kainic acid (KA) increased c-fos mRNA level in a concentration-dependent manner. However, they did not affect c-jun mRNA level. In addition, forskolin and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) increased c-fos mRNA level. Furthermore, PMA increased c-jun mRNA level whereas forskolin downregulated c-jun mRNA level. The glutamate, NMDA and KA, at a concentration of 0.25 mM, did not affect the basal c-fos and c-jun mRNA levels, and also did not affect forskolin- and PMA-induced responses. Furthermore, both forskolin and PMA itself increased the phosphorylation of ERK (extracellular signal regulated kinase) and CREB (cyclicAMP responsible element binding protein) proteins. The KA, NMDA, and glutamate did not affect forskolin- induced increase of ERK and CREB phosphorylation. The KA decreased PMA-induced increase of phosphorylation of ERK and CREB proteins, whereas glutamate and NMDA did not affect the phosphorylation of ERK and CREB proteins induced by PMA. These findings suggest that, in C6 glioma cells, c-fos mRNA induction induced by EAAs is not mediated by phosphorylation of ERK and CREB proteins.