Photolytic release of ATP from inactive P-3-[1-(2-nitrophenyl)]ethyl ester of ATP (NPE-caged ATP) provides a means to reveal molecular interactions between nucleotide and enzyme by using infrared spectroscopy. Reaction-induced infrared difference spectra of bovine intestinal alkaline phosphatase (BIAP) and of NPE-caged ATP revealed small structural alterations on the peptide backbone affecting one or two amino-acid residues. After photorelease of ATP, the substrate could be hydrolyzed sequentially by the enzyme producing three Pi, adenosine, and the photoproduct nitrosoacetophenone. It was concluded that NPE-caged ATP could bind to BIAP prior to the photolytic cleavage of ATP and that Pi could interact with BIAP after photolysis of NPE-caged ATP and hydrolysis, yielding infrared spectra with distinct structure changes of BIAP. This suggests that the molecular mechanism of ATP hydrolysis by BIAP involved small structural adjustments of the peptide backbone in the vicinity of the active site during ATP hydrolysis which continued during Pi binding. (C) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.