En face endothelial preparations of rat uterine vein were stained with rhodamine-phalloidin to investigate the dynamics of stress fiber expression during pregnancy. In prepregnant animals, somewhat plump, spindle-like endothelial cells of the uterine vein had only a few short stress fibers. With the progress of pregnancy, however, many long stress fibers appeared within the elongated endothelial cells. Within 2 hr after delivery, these stress fibers became dramatically decreased in number as the cells reverted from an elongated to a plump shape and returned to the prepregnancy level by 14 days postpartum. The uterine vein showed a significant increase in length during pregnancy and quickly shortened after delivery. Thus, expression of stress fibers in endothelial cells of the uterine vein seems to be related to the tension loaded on this vessel during its elongation in parallel with the marked growth of the uterine body during pregnancy. This study shows that stress fibers are dynamic structures that may serve to maintain endothelial cell integrity during the exertion of tensile stress on the vessel wall.