This study was designed to determine the effects of reduced neuromuscular activity on the expression of proteins associated with contractile and metabolic functions and the size of single muscle fibers in the cat soleus. Adult cats were spinalized (Sp) at T12-T13 and maintained in a healthy condition for 6 months. Some of the cats were trained to weight-support (Sp-WS) for 30 minutes per day beginning one month posttransection. Cross-sectional area (CSA), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (GPD), and myofibrillar adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activities were determined in a population of single fibers identified in frozen serial cross-sections. Each fiber was categorized as either light or dark based on its staining density for qualitative myosin ATPase, alkaline preincubation (pH 8.75). The Sp (45%) and Sp-WS (31%) groups had significantly higher percentages of dark ATPase fibers than control (less than 1%). All dark ATPase fibers were shown to react positively for a fast myosin heavy chain monoclonal antibody, while some of these fibers showed a reaction to both fast and slow myosin heavy chain antibodies. Overall mean fiber CSA were significantly smaller (approximately 25%) than control in both Sp groups. In the Sp-WS, but not the Sp cats, the dark fibers were larger than the light fibers (P less than 0.05), suggesting a preferential effect of postural training on the ATPase converted fibers. There were no significant differences among the three groups in any of the mean enzyme activities for either ATPase type fiber. However, there was a general tendency for the Sp cats to have elevated GPD and ATP activities per muscle; this appeared to be directly related to the percentage of fibers staining darkly for myosin ATPase. These data indicate that 6 months after spinalization some of the fibers of the slow muscle developed fast myosin staining patterns and oxidative and glycolytic enzyme profiles that are normally exhibited in fast fatigue-resistant motor units. Periods of daily weight-support appear to ameliorate some of these adaptations to spinalization. Further, the observation that SDH activities are maintained at control values in spinalized adult cats as well as in spinalized kittens (unpublished observations) suggest that, at least in the soleus, skeletal muscle fibers can maintain their oxidative potential even though there is a marked reduction in neuromuscular activity for 6 months.