Experimental evidence has suggested that vascular adventitial fibroblasts (AFs) may migrate into the neointima of arteries after balloon injury in various animal models. However, the research on migration of AFs has been limited to the effects of acute vascular injury. The role of AFs in chronic vascular injury and hypertension is not yet known. In this study, the migration of spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR)-AFs and Wistar-Kyoto rat (WKY)-AFs from the thoracic aorta was determined by a transwell technique. Our results showed that fetal calf serum, angiotensin II (Ang II), phorbol ester, basic fibroblast growth factor and platelet-derived growth factor-BB induced migration in a dose-dependent manner, and the migration of SHR-AFs was always greater than that of WKY-AFs. Ang II-induced migration of AFs was considered to have been mediated by Ang II type 1 receptor (AT1-R), because the AT1-R antagonist losartan (10(-7)-10(-5) mol/l) suppressed Ang II-induced migration. Ang II-induced migration was also blocked by the extracellular-regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) inhibitor PD98059 (10(-5) mol/l) and p38 kinase inhibitor SB202190 (10(-5) mol/l), indicating that ERK1/2 and p38 kinase were involved in Ang II-induced migration. Ang II (10(-7) mol/l)-induced ERK1/2 and p38 kinase phosphorylation, both of which peaked after 5 min, were suppressed by PD98059 and SB202190, respectively. The Ang-II induced phosphorylation of both proteins was suppressed by losartan, whereas no effect was observed with PD123319, a specific inhibitor of Ang II type 2 receptor (AT2-R). Thus, in the present study, various factors stimulated the migration of SHR-AFs and, to a leber extent, WKY-AFs from the thoracic aorta, and the ERK1/2 and p38 kinase pathways are involved in Ang II-stimulated migration of fibroblasts.