Liposomes containing phosphatidylcholine (PC) and cholesterol (Chol) were applied to the enhancer for firefly bioluminescence (BL) assay for ATP in the presence of cationic surfactants using as an extractant for the release of ATP from living cells. Benzalkonium chloride (BAC) was used as an ATP extractant. However, BAC seriously inhibited the activity of luciferase, thus resulting in the remarkable decrease in the sensitivity of the BL assay for ATP. On the other hand, we found that BAC was associated with liposomes to form cationic liposomes containing BAC. The association rate of BAC with liposomes was faster than that of BAC with luciferase. As a result, the inhibitory effect of BAC on luciferase was eliminated in the presence of liposomes. In addition, cationic liposomes thus formed enhanced BL emission. BL measurement conditions were optimized in terms of liposome charge type, liposome size, and total concentration of PC and Chol. ATP can be sensitively determined without dilution of analytical samples by using liposomes. The detection limit of ATP with and without liposomes was 100 amol and 25 fmol in aqueous ATP standard solutions containing 0.06% BAC, respectively. The method was applied to the determination of ATP in Escherichia coli extracts. The BL intensity was linear from 4 x 10(4) to 1 x 10(7) cells mL(-1) in the absence of liposomes. On the other hand, the BL intensity was linear from 4 x 10(3) to 4 x 10(6) cells mL(-1) in the presence of liposomes. The detection limit of ATP in E. coli extracts was improved by a factor of 10 via use of liposomes.