Conformational changes occurring in the catalytic cycle of the H 1 /K 1 -ATPase were monitored by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Caged compounds were used to release ATP, in the presence of Ca 21 , to induce the transition between the E1 and E1-P conformation of the H 1 /K 1 -ATPase. In addition to bands associated with the photolysis of the caged compounds, some peaks of the difference infrared spectra were associated with changes in secondary structure and modifications of the ionization in the side chains of amino-acid residues (Glu or Asp). These changes were specific to the reaction between the ligand and the enzyme. We estimated that 39 amino acids changed their secondary structure during the reaction and four amino-acid residues were deprotonated. Similar spectral changes appeared when ADP was released from its precursor. The release of P i from the same caged molecule did not induce similar changes. Changes in tertiary structure occurring during the binding of adenosine and phosphorylation of the enzyme were demonstrated by recording hydrogen/deuterium exchange kinetics by attenuated total reflectance FTIR spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). At least 129 amide protons were involved in a tertiary structure change induced by ATP. This suggested that secondary structure change transduced a much larger tertiary structure modification.Keywords: H 1 /K 1 -ATPase; caged-compounds; catalytic cycle; ATR-FTIR spectroscopy.The gastric H 1 /K 1 -ATPase is the electroneutral ion pump responsible for acid secretion in the gastric mucosa. In this process, cytosolic H 1 is exchanged for extracellular K 1 . The gastric H 1 /K 1 -ATPase is a member of the P-ATPase family and shares many features, including sequence homologies and enzymatic mechanisms with other members such as the Ca 21 -ATPase [1], and especially the Na 1 /K 1 -ATPase [2]. Enzymes of this large family are characterized by the formation of a covalent aspartylphosphate group during their catalytic cycle and the transition between two major conformations called E1 and E2.From a structural point of view, this enzyme is composed of a catalytic a subunit (114 kDa) and a glycosylated b subunit (33 kDa). The a subunit, a membrane multispanning polypeptide, is responsible for the coupling of ATP hydrolysis with ion transport across the membrane. The b subunit, a single membrane spanning peptide, is required for the proper assembly and targeting of the entire protein. The a subunit of the H 1 /K 1 -ATPase consists of 1034 amino-acid residues [2]. It contains the phosphorylation site (Asp385) and Lys517, which is preferentially labeled by fluorescein 5 H -isothiocyanate (FITC). The models based on hydrophobicity profiles and different experimental results predict 10 membrane spanning segments for the a subunit. Although segments M9 and M10 have never been isolated after proteolysis, genetics experiments support this view [2,3]; it is also consistent with the recently published structure of the Ca 21 -ATPase [4]. The b subunit consists of 290 amino-acid residu...