To obtain further evidence that the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA functions in palate development, the presence of an active GABA uptake mechanism was sought using primary cultures of embryonic palate mesenchymal cells. Uptake was compared from cells of two inbred mouse strains in which the SWV strain shows greater sensitivity than the AJ strain to effects of GABA on palate morphogenesis and of diazepam in producing cleft palate. Palate cells were capable of accumulating [3H]GABA by saturable uptake mechanisms characteristic of a high and low affinity active transport as indicated by temperature, Na+ ion and carrier dependence as well as Km and Vmax values that were comparable to other biological systems. The Vmax of the high-affinity uptake system from cells of the SWV strain was 1.8 fold higher than that of the AJ. GABA uptake was also observed in fibroblasts from various sources including embryonic mouse limb cells, human skin fibroblasts and 3T3 cells. When active GABA uptake was measured in skin fibroblasts from the mouse SWV and AJ strains, the rate of uptake from SWV cells under high affinity conditions was also 1.8 fold greater than in AJ cells. Thus active GABA uptake appears to be genetically regulated in non-neural cells which may contribute to differential responses to GABA.