To investigate the postburn expression of proto -- oncogenes c -- fos and c -- myc mRNA and proteins in rat myocardial cells following severe burn.Wistar rats inflicted with 30% TBSA III degree burn on the back were employed as the model and randomly divided into four groups: burn (B), resuscitation (R), verapamil (V) and control (C) groups. The expressions of c -- fos and c -- myc mRNA were examined by in situ hybridization and that of the proteins by immunohistochemistry.The expressions of the proteins and mRNA of c -- fos and c -- myc in every experimental groups increased to peak values and then decreased along with time lapsing. And the expressions of c -- fos and c -- myc were weakest in B group, while that in V group was stronger than that in R group.The expression of postburn immediate -- early genes c -- fos and c -- myc could be induced in the myocardial cells in all the groups by severe burns. And the expression features were different from the gene expression in patients with myocardial infarction and with cardiac over -- load. This implied that there were different signal transduction and modulation mechanism among these pathological conditions.