The goal of this project was to examine the effects of artificial gravity (AG) on skeletal muscle strength and key anabolic/catabolic markers known to regulate muscle mass. Two groups of subjects were selected for study: 1) a 21 day-bed rest (BR) group (N=7); and 2) an AG group (N=8), which was subjected to 21 days of 6° head-down-tilt bed rest plus daily 1 hr exposures to AG (2.5 g at the feet). Centrifugation was produced using a short arm centrifuge with the foot plate approximately 220 cm from the center of rotation. The torque-velocity relationships of the knee extensors and plantar flexors of the ankle were determined pre and post treatment. Muscle biopsy samples obtained from the vastus lateralis and soleus muscles were used for a series of gene expression analyses (mRNA abundance) of key factors implicated in the anabolic versus catabolic state of the muscle. Post/Pre toque-velocity determinations revealed greater decrements in knee extensor performance in the BR versus AG group (P< 0.04). The plantar flexors of the AG subjects actually demonstrated a net gain in the torque-velocity relationship, whereas, in the BR group, the responses declined (AG vs BR; P< 0.001). Muscle fiber cross-sectional area decreased by ~20% in the BR group, while no losses were evident in the AG group. RT-PCR analyses of muscle biopsy specimens demonstrated that markers of growth and cytoskeletal integrity were higher in the AG group, whereas catabolic markers were elevated in the BR group. Importantly, these patterns were seen in both muscles. We conclude that paradigms of AG have the potential to maintain the functional, biochemical, and structural homeostasis of skeletal muscle in the face of chronic unloading.