The uptake of radioactive ethanolamine has been studied in exclusively neuronal and glial cell cultures from dissociated cerebral hemispheres of chick embryos. Both cell types show saturable kinetics; neurons have an apparent Km of 6.7 microM, Vmax 41.4 pmol mg prot.-1 min-1 and glial cells a Km of 119.6 microM, Vmax 3,917 pmol mg prot-1 min-1. The lower affinity of the transport and the 100 fold increase in Vmax observed in glial cells correlated with a more important accumulation of free ethanolamine found in glial cells and with a higher degree of phosphorylation of ethanolamine. The uptake appeared to be temperature and Na+ ions dependent but was not affected by CN- or ouabain. Monomethyl-, dimethylethanolamine and choline were effective in inhibiting the uptake. Little or no effect was observed with serine, methionine, carnitine, alanine or glutamate.