Using patch-clamp recording in combination with reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), we show in individual bipolar cells acutely dissociated from the adult rat retina a correlation between the expression of the GABAA receptor rho 1 subunit mRNA and a bicuculline-resistant, diazepam-insensitive component of the GABA-activated whole-cell current response. This "GABAC-like" response, contributing to approximately 42% of the GABA-activated whole-cell current and displaying variable sensitivity to picrotoxin, was found in bipolar cells but not in any of the ganglion cells examined. Expression profiling of GABAA receptor subunit mRNAs in individual electrophysiologically tested retinal neurons revealed that, while both bipolar cells and ganglion cells may express numerous GABAA receptor subunit isoforms, including that of rho 2, the expression of the rho 1 subunit was strictly limited to bipolar cells. We propose a possible link between the presence of a receptor with GABAC-like pharmacological profile and the expression of the retina-specific rho 1 subunit isoform. The results presented in this study constitute the first direct demonstration of such a correlation at the single-cell level.